The Indonesian government continues to expand its water management infrastructure. Upcoming regulations on water as a natural resource will determine the sustainability of Indonesia’s water management efforts.
Indonesia has an uneven distribution of population and water resources. 57.5% of the country’s population lives in the island of Java, which has only 4.2% of the country’s water resources according to the ASEAN Working Group on Water Resources Management. The country’s rapid population growth contributes to the challenge as it will increase water usage while, without any intervention, further deteriorate the quality of water in the country.
The Indonesian government realizes this problem and has taken measures to continually improve the country’s water management infrastructure. Under the current administration, as stipulated in Presidential Regulation No. 56/2018, as many as 7 drinkable water supply system (SPAM) and the Jakarta sewerage system are to be developed. The Ministry of Public Works and Housing reported that 2 out of the 7 targeted SPAMs have been completed.
In this regard, regional governments have also taken an active role in the water management sector. A Domestic Wastewater Treatment Plant is currently being developed in Sebira Island and Kelapa Dua Island in the Thousand Islands district in Jakarta. The Mataram city administration in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, is formulating a regional regulation on wastewater treatment. The South Sumatra government, through its Sumsel Babel Bank, lent Rp 93 billion (roughly US$6.34 million) to the local water treatment company to accelerate the region’s water management efforts.
That is not to say that Indonesia’s water management infrastructure doesn’t need further acceleration. Out of the 49 major rivers in the country, none comply with standard clean river water quality, with 30 slightly polluted rivers, 13 moderately polluted rivers and 6 heavily polluted rivers. Setting the capital city of Jakarta as an example, only 63% of the city’s water is piped. The city’s Non-Revenue Water rate, or clean water that is been produced and is lost before it reaches customers via leakages or other reasons, stands at a very high 42%.
Currently, the regulatory environment in Indonesia is in favor of the private sector following the issuance of Law No. 17/2019 on water as a natural resource. The regulation grants regional governments authority to work with the private sector to improve their water management sector, thus opening opportunities for German companies to offer their solutions. Citing Germany’s 100% coverage in supply and sanitation, Indonesia can learn a lot from German know-how to further expand water coverage and to secure a sustainable future for the natural resource.
The challenge for the Indonesian government then is to ensure that the four implementing-regulations (RPP) from Law No. 17/2019 are issued in a transparent and timely manner. The Indonesian government has stated that the deliberation for the water RPP has been postponed due to the priority given to the recently issued Omnibus Law and its 39 RPP. The indonesian people, who pays for all costs directly either through a tariff or through the tax system, is the ultimate stakeholder and has a right to have an insight into how his or her money is being spent. At the same time, a transparent sharing of data will reduce the costs of monitoring by eliminating the many redundant systems and at the same time constitutes one of the best methods to ensure an honest and corruption-free water management sector.