Sanitation in Brantas river deplorable

JAKARTA (JP): Poor sanitation and uneven distribution of water along the Brantas river in East Java, as well as the implementation of a sound water accounting system, are among Indonesia's most pressing problems.

Philippe Crouzet of France's ministry of environment and Arnaud Comolet of Planistat Europe Consultants said that Indonesia's open sewage system is causing a serious sanitation problem in the river.

At the "Franco-Indonesian Seminar on Water-Accounting: the Experience of the Brantas Basin," they said while water quality continued to decline, the gap between water demand and supply continued to widen.

"If both the water quantity and quality continues to change at such a rapid pace, it will be hard to make sound water accounting schemes for the river," Crouzet said.

The seminar, organized by the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), presented results of the Brantas Basin projects jointly conducted by the Indonesian and French governments.

Water accounting will enable the compilation of a series of quantitative accounts and assessments for the use of decision makers, while at the same time ensuring sustainable management.

Herman Haeruman, Assistant to the Bappenas chairman acknowledged that a water accounting scheme was urgently needed because water has increasingly become a valuable entity, unlike several years ago when people thought it was free.

"The increasing demand for water has led to questions on how to allocate it evenly among the poor and rich households and between agricultural and industrial purposes," he said.

Herman said while the agricultural sector was expected to grow by three percent in the current sixth Five Year Plan (Repelita VI), the industrial sector was six to nine percent.

"Water supply should, therefore, be adequate to meet industrial demands in particular," he added.

Comolet said the water's worsening quality could easily make it insufficient to meet industrial standards.

Water quality

Indonesia and France, since the early 1980's, have been collaborating in water management projects aimed at controlling and improving water quality in local rivers. A pilot project was set up in the Brantas river basin.

The state-owned Jasa Tirta water enterprise, with assistance from French consultant groups, has been handling the river's water quantity and quality management as well as the maintenance of water resources infrastructures.

In 1991, the Indonesian and French governments agreed to launch a new program aimed at setting up a water accounting pilot system based on the existing project in Brantas.

According to Rusfandi Usman, Jasa Tirta's operations director, Brantas river basin covered an area of 12,000 square kilometers.

Of the 12 billion cubic meters of water available in the Brantas river basin annually, only five billion cubic meters can be managed the whole year, he said.

Some 80 percent of this amount goes to irrigation networks and the remaining 20 percent is allocated for municipal, industrial, flushing and fishery purposes, he added. (pwn)