Open Contracting in the Water Services Sector, a Preliminary Study in Bantul Regency, Semarang City, and DKI Jakarta Province

More than 40 per cent of the global population lack access to clean water. In many countries, clean water supply and availability are further hindered by water crisis and drought that are exacerbated by climate change.

In Indonesia, the citizens’ rights to potable and clean water are warranted by the 1945 Constitution. It stipulates that the State has the obligation to manage resources, including water, and to use them for the greatest benefit of the people. The Government of Indonesia has also ratified the United Nations Covenant on Economics, Social, and Cultural Rights that endorsed the UN’s Resolution on the Right to Water. Moreover, the Government is responsible to always respect, protect, and fulfill the rights of its citizens to water.

To that end, the Government of Indonesia has appointed a regional government-owned water enterprise Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum (PDAM) to distribute clean and potable water to citizens throughout the archipelago. However, only 57 per cent out of the total 391 existing PDAMs are considered healthy companies. The rest are ailing, a situation that cannot be separated from the poor governance in the water sector.

Hivos believes in opening room for citizens to access more information about water supply as the key to address chronic issues in the water sector. Hivos also believes that reforming information access can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the public contract in supplying clean and potable water. This initiative may also create and or improve the mechanism of grievance handling relating to public services by supervisory authorities. To have the public engaged, Hivos recognizes the need to build a deeper understanding on water governance issues in PDAM.

To that end, Hivos-Open Contracting Program collaborated with the Center for Regulation, Policy and Governance (CRPG), IDEA Yogyakarta, PATTIRO Semarang, and AMRTA Institute to conduct a scoping study on the water sector in three regions – the DKI Jakarta Province, Semarang City in Central Java Province, and Bantul Regency in the Special Region of Yogyakarta Province. Aside from learning about water governance issues that have been preventing the citizens from having their water rights fulfilled, the study has been valuable in identifying the most effective measures so that the program could contribute to addressing the issues. In this study, we identified relevant actors, their interest in open contracting initiative, actors’ capacity, as well as challenges and barriers in incorporating open contracting in water governance.

Click the link below to download and read “Open Contracting in the Water Services Sector, a Preliminary Study in Bantul Regency, Semarang City, and DKI Jakarta Province” to learn more about water governance issues in Indonesia as well as the measures the government needs to take to overcome them.