Holes in water bill must be plugged: Observed

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.