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).