THREE critical challenges confront water resource management in the country as
it celebrates 50 years of nationhood: access to water, climate change and water
governance.
The post-Merdeka governments ensured that access to basic utilities was a
development goal. But such commitments are non-existent in a neo-liberal
environment.
The post-Merdeka government’s commitment to improving the people’s quality of
life and standard of living ensured that 95% of the country had access to water,
24/7. The state reasoned that access to clean and affordable water was a
development commitment.
Since water privatisation in Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, the number of
disconnections in the concession area has skyrocketed.
Parliament was recently informed that there were about 364,200 disconnections in
the concession area, about 24% of all connections. Of this amount, 257,436 were
household disconnections. Revenue from disconnections alone amount to RM18.2
million, a highly profitable undertaking.
Furthermore, Parliament was informed that the water concessionaire is toying
with the idea of introducing pre-paid cards for water. Malaysians can no longer
take for granted access to water, a consequence of changing state policy that
has transformed water into a profitable commodity.
A second challenge would be in the areas of water conservation and water
infrastructure development in the face of global warming. Why? Global warming
will lead to water scarcity and drought. It is suggested that parts of the
country that currently experience wet climate could become drier and vice versa.
Also, parts of the country could experience prolonged droughts, while others
could see a striking increase in rainfall and frequent flooding.
Changes from global warming are expected to happen rapidly and unpredictably. It
could overwhelm infrastructures such as dams and reservoirs which are currently
in place for conserving and managing water.
Thus, global warming creates uncertainty in terms of managing, planning and
water infrastructure development. Would the uncertainty result in the rethinking
of the RM9 billion Kelau Dam, designed to bring water from water rich Pahang to
water scarce Kuala Lumpur and Selangor?
Would it lead to a rethinking and an “out of the box” approach in water
infrastructure planning and development?
The third challenge for water management in the country is in the area of
governance.
What would be required to bring about public control over governance in water
management? The Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, recently reminded the
nation that people want to be informed and actively involved in making decisions
that affects their lives and livelihoods. Raja Nazrin noted that good governance
coupled with democratisation could result in outcomes which are efficient,
effective and ethical.
Unfortunately, the notion of good governance is still a relatively a new word in
the lexicon of the water regulators and authorities. Present understanding of
good governance is confined to people’s participation as a technical procedure
or a methodological issue.
Regulatory bodies are structured to be more responsive to the private sector and
less responsive to consumers and citizens.
There is a need to strengthen public or democratic control over water management
and governance. The initial steps towards such control involves transparency
(unrestrained access to information), accountability (state functionaries or
regulators discharging their responsibility free of fear or favour), and
participation of all stakeholders.
Democratisation and good governance ensure that tariff, water conservation,
building water infrastructure, water regulations and policies, and the right to
water is promoted and protected in the interests of the nation and its people.
Charles Santiago is a political economist and director of Monitoring
Sustainability of Globalisation, a civil society organisation which is also part
of the Coalition Against Water Privatisation.
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News/Notices 
THREE critical challenges confront water resource management in the country as
it celebrates 50 years of nationhood: access to water, climate change and water
governance.
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