RI joins forum to stem tide of water problems

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 03/23/2006 8:41 AM  |  Life

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Mexico City

Indonesia brought to the Fourth World Water Forum here a ministerial statement that highlighted the ongoing water crisis resulting from environmental degradation.

At the same time, a regional meeting at the forum launched the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF), aimed at addressing common water-related issues and problems within the region.

""Indonesia's surface water resources experienced a shortage during the dry season. Total water demand is 1,047 cubic meters per second (cmps), while the low flow available under normal weather conditions stands at 790 cmps, or about 76 percent of total demand,"" said the statement, prepared by the Public Works Ministry.

""The crisis is particularly bad in Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara,"" the ministry's director general for water resources, Siswoko, told The Jakarta Post. He was representing Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto.

The 22-page document revealed that five groundwater basins in Java and Bali experienced declining water quality and quantity due to industrial activities. The lowered water level has caused land to subside and salinization of groundwater along the coast.

Lack of access to clean water in urban areas and water-related disasters like flash floods and landslides are also mentioned.

The statement points to pollution and untreated wastewater from municipalities, industry and mining among the major threats to sustainable water development.

The ministry identifies a variety of solutions, from constructing reservoirs and ponds to institutional and management improvement.

""The total estimated cost for the programs from 2005 to 2009 is about US$4.042 billion. About 40 percent of total funding required is scheduled to be provided by international financial institutions, including the Asian Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the World Bank,"" the report said.

The ministry explains that water-related initiatives are meant to fulfill Millennium Development Goals that concern water.

""We aim to increase the provision of tap water from 39 percent of the population in 2000 to 69 percent in 2015. By 2009, the government aims to provide 49 percent of dwellings in urban areas and 40 percent in rural areas throughout the country with access to potable tap water,"" the statement continued.

Meanwhile, a preparatory regional meeting at the forum decided to hold further Asia-Pacific sessions with the support of the Japan Water Forum.

Spreading from the western highlands of the Himalayas to deep atolls in the Pacific in the east, from the steppes in Mongolia in the north to the southern coast of Australia and Tasmania, the region has mostly limited access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Concentrated in South and Southeast Asia, its 678 million people -- 63 percent of the world total -- still lack improved drinking water and over 1.9 billion people or 74 percent of the world total still live without access to improved sanitation, a UNICEF-WHO report revealed.

""For every dollar we spend on water and sanitation infrastructure, we need an additional 70 cents for education on the issues,"" Malaysia's water resources director general, Keizrul Abdullah, said.

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