[RECAP] Cangkir Teh : Water Governance for the Urban Poor and COVID-19 Crisis: The Case Study of Jakarta

The government’s move towards new normal as a policy alternative in tackling COVID-19 is thought-provoking, in particular regarding the aptness of both the government and the people in anticipating the situation. As the new normal scheme demands every member of the society to pay extra attention to their health (with, amongst many other measures, frequent handwashing), it is necessary to observe how water—as a vital element in preventing COVID-19 transmission—is being governed. Notably in urban poor areas, water governance needs to be scrutinized to ensure equal access.

Intrigued by the issue, Institute of International Studies organized Berbincang dan Berpikir tentang Hubungan Internasional (Cangkir Teh) on Wednesday, 17 June 2020 online via Google Meet. Present in the fourth forum of Cangkir Teh was Marwa, M. Sc., a researcher in Center for World Trade Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada, as the speaker. Marwa brought about the topic of “Water Governance for the Urban Poor and COVID-19 Crisis: The Case Study of Jakarta”. In addition, Handono Ega—publication staff of IIS UGM—also attended as a moderator.

Marwa commenced the discussion by expressing the importance of discussing water governance issue. The matter is of great urgency as access to water in urban poor regions is still limited, particularly in Jakarta. Poor water governance poses the urban poor population as the group most vulnerable to lack of water, above all in times of pandemic. In defining water governance, Marwa put two approaches to use, namely the environmental justice approach and the feminist political ecology approach.

The environmental justice approach highlights the significance of recognition and participation aspects in water governance. The approach criticizes how established water governance policies are only fixated on water distribution between the elite and the urban poor, neglecting elements of recognition and participation. Such negligence contributes to the exclusion of urban poor population in the water governance scheme. The issue of recognition becomes an important point as limited access to water usually comes from urban poor settlements being deemed illegal. Moreover, the aspect of participation also needs to be taken into account, as the urban poor population is normally unable to participate in municipal water governance scheme, let alone in lower levels of households and communities. As the two facets were given little attention to in public discourse, existing policies are also void of them. Said policies include: (1) the cross-subsidy tariff scheme which, despite charging lower price to the urban poor, is yet to consider recognition; (2) the flexible payment mechanism which prioritizes subsidy, but overlooks recognition and participation; (3) the master meter program which provides an alternative for people who don’t own land certificates, but controversially legitimizes the “occupation” of illegal land by urban poor population.

Meanwhile, the feminist political ecology approach puts emphasis on the methods of daily water utilization. In practice, water governance and utilization might be policy-driven, requiring large-scale public collaboration, or needs-driven, usually limited to the vicinity of communities. In her analysis, Marwa asserted that access to water highly depends on the identity of an individual, covering his/her place of origins, type of settlement (whether permanent or semi-permanent), number of people in the household, status of land owner and even the individual’s place in the community. Different identities lead to different ways of obtaining access to water and certain identities are favored more compared to others. In aforesaid condition, the urban poor tend to be the one at disadvantage, having their access to water restricted. The feminist political ecology approach finds fault in the tendency of existing policies to generalize, causing inability to reach out to the society as a whole, especially the urban poor.

Observance of the situation in Jakarta leads to the conclusion that the established water governance involving different stakeholders on different scales is unable to give decent access to water for the urban poor, primarily amidst the spread of COVID-19. Large-scale social distancing measures compelled the urban poor into compromising their need of water and sanitation essential to health. In a more general context, the neglect of recognition and participation results in difficulties for migrants in Jakarta in accessing water. Government’s effort, unfortunately, was limited to providing handwashing facilities, which is—definitely—inadequate to satisfy the population’s daily need of water. At the end of her presentation, Marwa suggested that, instead of continuously debating on remunicipalization and privatization, it is essential for the government to move towards better recognition and participation of the people in water governance process. Besides, while the urban poor has always been mere tool of propaganda in improving water governance, the pandemic should be the right momentum to voice the importance of just, flexible, and sustainable water governance for the whole population.

Writer : Brigitta Kalina Tristani Hernawan

Editor : Medisita Febrina