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Missing water and shadow users

There is an interesting op-ed in today's Jakarta Post about Water Resources. The author argues:

There are three main reasons for the emergence of shadow users and the disappearance of water from the water table.

1. First, on face value, unlike countries that face water scarcity, Indonesia has abundant and easily accessible water resources.
2. Second, a small handful of non-state actors and activist organizations are not pluralistic by definition. These actors are politically driven, weak and sparse. Promoting a consensus based pluralistic dialogue and discourse is not their main agenda.
3. Third, both at the national and local levels, there are gaps in linking public policy-making with regulatory frameworks.

Can't agree more with the 2nd point. The water resources discourse in Indonesia is quite monolithic: it's either you are pro public ownership or pro privatization. I don't think this will get us anywhere.

Full post as published by Indonesian Law Reporter (ILR) on April 22, 2010 (boomark / email).