Holes in water bill must be plugged: Observed

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government needs to add more regulations to the newly-passed water bill to make sure possible commercialization in the sector would not cut off public access to water, observers say.

"The bill has no concrete regulations guaranteeing access for the public to water, but it already has articles that could eventually lead to the spelling out of this aim," Pieter Hehanussa from the Indonesian Science Institute (LIPI) told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

That day, the institute launched two books on water resource management in observance with the 12th World Water Day on March 22.

"The public must change their idea that fresh water will always be available. The gap between the water supply and population density is getting larger. That's why the water sector needs stricter management," Pieter said.

"The bill shows that the government is becoming more concerned with water reservation. The new title -- the bill on water resources, illustrates the realization water management concerns other sectors, which are related to water use. The public has to read the bill thoroughly to grasp the government's point-of-view instead of only focusing on a couple of articles," he said.

The new water bill replaced Law No.11/1974 on water.

Many academics and activists from non-governmental organizations have expressed fears over some articles in the bill that open possibilities of water commercialization by the private sector.

Article 4, for example, states that water has social, environmental, and "economic" functions. Article 9(1) promotes water commercialization with the approval from either the central government or the regional administrations.

"I don't think the label privatization is suitable. The bill only says (water) management, not (water-owning) company. Even if the private sector reaps a profit, it should be used for conservation, a concept of which is embedded in some articles in the bill," said Pieter, who was also involved in creating the bill.

Water activist Nadia Hadad told the Post any new or supporting regulations should not be overridden by the vested interests of certain parties.

There were still many loopholes in the bill that needed to be fixed with supporting regulations and detailed explanation, Nadia said.

"An example (in the bill) is the (issue of) changing of clean water into drinking water. How is the government going to produce drinking water when it hasn't been able to provide clean water? And who provides drinking water? The private companies!".

"Water has so many levels and dimensions. It has become a product like oil that has a high value, and many people want to gain access to it and make a profit from the sector. If the government is not careful in the end the public will suffer from their carelessness," she said.