NGOs call for more govt control over water access
NGOs call for more govt control over water access
Tantri Yuliandini The Jakarta Post Nusa Dua, Bali
An alliance of non-governmental organizations dealing with fresh water has called for more government intervention in the management of water to ensure availability and access of fresh water to the public.
The alliance expressed concern that instead of governments taking control of public access to fresh water, global and regional trade agreements were liberalizing trade in sanitation and water services, and granting multinational investors far- reaching legal protection.
"World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations could lock in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's privatization model for water and sanitation services, thereby making it increasingly difficult for governments to regulate these sectors," the alliance said in the statement.
Chairman of the alliance M. Anung Karyadi, said that Bali's preparatory committee meeting and the resulting documents to be endorsed at the World's Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August will be crucial for the development and management of fresh water for the next 10 years.
"So if the documents endorsed are poor, it will be very bad for the sustainability of water," he said in the alliance's meeting here. International NGOs including representatives from Indonesia, China, Malaysia and the Philippines attended the meeting.
After a lively discussion on the main points of concern for fresh water sustainability, the alliance proposed that governments must affirm that water is public property and that any private participation in providing water services should not extend control over water itself.
The alliance also proposed that trade agreements must not hamper the ability of governments to limit or reverse harmful privatization policies, and must not disable governments' ability to insist on key environmental and public health provisions in the operations of multinational firms.
"Governments should be able to hand over the responsibility of water services to the private sector, but if the private sector doesn't do it well then the government should be able to hold the company accountable," said Burghard Ilge of the Netherlands's Both Ends - an environment and development service for NGOs. Meanwhile, the world's fresh water crisis is growing at an unparalleled scale with at least 1 billion people lacking access to clean water in the world today, and more than 2 billion lacking access to basic sanitation services.
"The scarcity of clean water leads to millions of deaths, public health emergencies and widespread environmental contamination," the alliance said in a statement.
Approximately 30,000 children are estimated to die every day of water-related diseases, the statement added.
Worries over the impact of the preparatory committee document, also called the chairman's text, on sustainability and access to fresh water spilled over onto the table when representatives of international NGOs sat down to share their experiences of fresh water availability in their respective countries.
Kay Fusano from Japan's branch of the International Women's Year Liaison Group, for example, claimed that although Japan is a country rich in fresh water, its river waters are slowly being polluted by the illegal disposal of industrial waste.
Damanhuri R. from the Indonesian Children Welfare Foundation (YKAI) said that textile industries in Indonesia only turn on their water treatment facilities during official inspections.
"Yes, they have water treatment facilities, but they only operate them during inspections, after which the facilities are shut down again," he maintained.
In all, the alliance presented 14 points of principle and provision toward the betterment of the chairman's text for the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August.
"If we don't put this forward now, I'm afraid there will be nobody else to comment and to stress the importance of fresh water in the current preparatory committee meetings," warned Anung, who is also assistant director of external relations of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).