RI told to establish independent water body

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recommended the Indonesian government to set up an independent water regulatory body to create a transparent pricing scheme and to mediate disputes between consumers and tap water providers.

The head of the ADB Water Regulation Team in Indonesia, Ilze Gotelli, said on Wednesday that the establishment of a regulatory body would ensure that people get better quality water at an affordable price.

Its establishment would be part of the reforms to separate the functions among regulatory, policy (government) and business institutions, she said.

"With the change, I'm optimistic that the water sector can lure more firms to provide more tap water to Indonesians," she said at a seminar on water regulation priorities in emerging markets.

The regulatory body should be formed based on a new water resources law, she added.

Gotelli said that to date the country's water pricing policy was not transparent, with tap water providers failing to provide good quality water to more people.

Even if tap water providers served people with a poor quality of water, they wouldn't be penalized, she said.

"Therefore, the country should no longer maintain the existing system," said Gotelli.

The country should learn from the success of regulatory bodies established in other countries such as England, Chile, Victoria (Australia), New Jersey, Manila and Buenos Aires, she said.

Achmad Lanti, the chairman of Jakarta's water supply regulatory body, agreed with Gotelli.

"A national water regulatory body should have two main tasks -- to act as a super regulator and to mediate local disputes as an appeals board," he said.

Jakarta established an independent water supply regulatory body in 2001 with the role of encouraging more investment, improving water supply and protecting the interests of Jakarta's consumers.

The regulatory body, however, has yet to make a concrete impact on Jakarta's residents.

At the national level, the House of Representatives will deliberate a bill on water resources.

There are dozens of provincial government-owned tap water companies in the country, two of which are operating in Jakarta -- P.T. PAM Lyonnaise Jaya and P.T. Thames Pam Jaya.