Présentations Colloques

On 18th February 2015 Indonesian Constitutional High Court of Indonesia has announced the cancelation the national water law No.7-2004 and reactivated previous water law No.11 year 1974. The Court confirms that the law No.7-2004 had encouraged privatization and commercialization of water resources at the expense of people’s rights to water, in violation of article 33 of Indonesian Constitution that stipulates that water and natural resources belongs to the State and should be used to the greatest welfare of the people. The High Court also issued six Principles that should guide new water resource regulation. As a consequence of the cancellation, all permits issued based on Law. No.7-2004 was invalidated which means any industry holding water permit was no more legally allowed to withdraw water. Also, the authorities decided not to process any extension of expiring abstraction permits or issuance of new permits. In parallel in the media, allegations of water sources privatization and over exploitation were particularly targeting bottle water companies. Facing an unprecedented situation, most of Food and Beverages industries associations had to quickly organized themselves into a Forum (across association of industrial water users), to collectively lobby the government in drafting urgently a transitional law. The forum has activated different levers and methods such as fact data collection. advocacy, facilitation of seminars with water experts, involvement of KOL, political, legal and scientist experts in the preparation of an academic paper. After several months of legal drafting process, government finally issued on 28 December 2015 the Government Regulation No. 121 2015 on the Water Resources Business. The forum took advantage of this new regulatory framework to raise authorities’ awareness on the necessity to draw a regulation covering all water usages, and strengthening water monitoring, control and conservation. But the journey till the new law is established is still long.