Air Belanda Indonesia - Netherlands Water Partnership

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Governance: not a model, but an interplay Under the new Memorandum of Understanding water governance will have a more integrated position within various collaboration projects. This is an important step according to Corné Nijburg, director of the Water Governance Centre, which has been operating since 2011. The Water Governance Centre brings together the knowledge available at public authorities, universities, knowledge institutes and other network organisations in the Netherlands, in order then to be able to apply that knowledge at home and abroad. “Governance has five building blocks: it constantly involves an interplay of political, administrative, social, legal and financial elements. They interweave and influence one another. You always need all five of them, but in a specific balance each time. We don’t offer a model - we show that it involves an interplay. Indonesia is experiencing very rapid growth, with enormous urbanisation and all the associated challenges. The administrative model has been fundamentally overturned. It is precisely at times like this that we can offer good support.” Both integrated and decentralised Bart Teeuwen has supported the Indonesian government over the past eight years with the modernisation of water legislation, which was implemented in the Water Act of 2004 and was worked out in ten government regulations. He presented his findings under the aegis of the Water Governance Centre: “The reform of the water sector is running in parallel with the implementation of the new democratic, decentralised administrative model. The Water Act is a great step forward and fits with the international principles of integrated water management. At the same time it is a fairly broadly formulated law, which means that it needs to be elaborated in government regulations. But that elaboration can detract from the integration, and you can see that happening. There are unnecessary overlaps and uncertainties about precisely who is responsible for what. The next step is therefore a harmonisation of the laws and regulations. This is an enormous challenge in which Dutch support with regard to the issue of governance can play an important role.” 62 22 • Air Belanda Indonesia
Dry feet first, then pay In urban delta areas the polder can be an effective weapon in the battle against the water. The Banger Polder in a district of Semarang is intended to demonstrate this in practice, both technically and administratively. Construction is taking place, the district water board is in place. The pumping station will be switched on in 2013 and the water level will drop by at least two metres. That proof of dry feet is needed in order to levy taxes. “The hardest thing is explaining to people what a polder is: how it works and how it can provide protection against floods. The Dutch have had a great deal of experience with polders in the Netherlands, but not in Indonesia,” says Suseno Darsono, chairman of the district water board in Semarang. A polder is being created in the city in Central Java around the Banger river in order to counter flooding. The Banger district is home to around 80,000 people on an area of around 530 hectares. The technical design for the polder was produced by civil engineers Witteveen+Bos. goes into the river. “The construction of the polder will mean that the river no longer discharges into the sea. Ultimately that will become very unhygienic. I am concerned that people will then think that the polder is no longer a good idea. We have asked the Indonesian government to help solve the sanitation problems.” ‘The residents are affected by floods almost every day’ “The residents are affected by floods almost every day. Sometimes the water is 30 to 50 centimetres deep,” says Suseno. At the same time as building the polder, a district water board or polder board - an institution previously unknown in Indonesia - has been established with the assistance of the Schie land en Krimpenerwaard water board (HHSK). “HHSK provided us with full training in how we should run, maintain and finance a polder.” Packet of cigarettes One of the biggest challenges for the district water board is the collection of taxes. “We need money in order to pay for staff and electricity, the pumps need to be maintained and the rubbish needs to be cleared,” says Suseno. The residents will only start to pay when the polder has been operational for two years. “We want to show that it works first, otherwise nobody will want to pay.” The intention is that each household will pay six thousand rupiah (50 eurocents) per month. “That’s less than a packet of cigarettes,” laughs Suseno. The district water board is currently focusing primarily on education. Not just to explain how a polder works, but also to tell the residents that they need to handle solid waste in a different way. In Indonesia solid waste is often thrown into the rivers. But this will not just block the river, but also the polder’s pumps. Another problem that needs to be resolved is the lack of sanitation. All the dirty water currently Great deal of interest The chairman of the district water board in Semarang is convinced that the polder will be a success. “Another polder is being built by the Japanese elsewhere in Semarang. That does not feature a district water board, which is a archetypal Dutch idea. But we have already been asked for information about setting up this kind of institution. The Indonesian Ministry of Public Works is also interested in the concept.” Johan Helmer of the Schieland en Krimpenerwaard polder board says: “It is a polder in a technical and institutional sense. Initially we talked a lot with both the municipal council and people in the district about the best organisational form. We rapidly came to the conclusion that a separate community-based polder board was needed, independent of the municipal council organisation. That became the SIMA district water board in April 2010. We are indebted to Roy Kraft van Ermel, former district water board member and councillor, for a substantial part of this. When completed the polder will consist mainly of dikes, a dam and a pumping station, and the Banger canal will be deepened. We hope to cautiously turn on the pumping station during the dry season of 2013; ultimately the water level needs to go down by 2 to 2.5 metres. If that all goes well, the district water 61 board can start collecting taxes in 2015.” water governance • 23
Page 1 and 2: Air Belanda Indonesia Cooperation b
Page 3 and 4: Foreword Water is an important natu
Page 5 and 6: Colophon Air Belanda Indonesia is a
Page 7 and 8: included the creation of the Jatilu
Page 9 and 10: Continuation and expansion The new
Page 11 and 12: Partnership Jakarta and Rotterdam o
Page 13 and 14: Waternet focuses on complete water
Page 15 and 16: Masterplan for protecting Jakarta f
Page 17 and 18: ‘Banjironline’ Flood app The ma
Page 19 and 20: Drinking with the wind Living on th
Page 21: ‘We are working with no fewer tha
Page 25 and 26: Capacity building through the relat
Page 27 and 28: Mathieu Pinkers is Executive Direct

Air Belanda Indonesia - Netherlands Water Partnership

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