Rabu, 12 Maret 2008

Memenuhi Hak Publik atas Air yang Sehat dan Layak


+Tulisan menjelang perayaan Hari Air Internasional 22 Maret 2008+


Air adalah komponen paling mendasar dan esensial bagi kehidupan manusia dan makhluk hidup lainnya. Tanpa air, manusia tidak akan bisa bertahan hidup dalam hitungan hari, sehingga air menjadi komoditas paling utama dan mendasar untuk menjamin dan melindungi hak untuk hidup serta untuk memenuhi hak asasi manusia yang lain. Tanpa air yang layak, bersih, dan menyehatkan, manusia tidak akan bisa mencapai tahap kesejahteraan hidup yang layak untuk tumbuh dan berkembang serta berpartisipasi dan menikmati berbagai hasil pembangunan.

Sebagai komoditas yang esensial dan menyangkut hajat hidup manusia keseluruhan, pemerintah mempunyai kewajiban dan tanggung jawab untuk menjamin agar air tersedia dalam jumlah dan kualitas yang baik dan dapat diakses oleh semua orang tanpa diskriminasi. Lantas bagaimana dengan tanggung jawab dan kewajiban pemerintah dalam melindungi dan memenuhi hak asasi manusia (HAM) atas air, terkait dengan momentum Hari Air Internasional setiap tanggal 22 Maret?

Meskipun sebagian besar permukaan bumi terdiri atas air, namun hanya 1 persennya yang layak dikonsumsi. Sembilanpuluh sembilan persen yang lain berupa air asin dan es di kutub yang tidak layak untuk dikonsumsi. Ketersediaan air yang sangat terbatas tersebut semakin tidak bisa memenuhi kebutuhan manusia yang jumlahnya semakin bertambah, walaupun berbagai macam teknologi pemanfaatan air telah ditemukan, namun tidak mampu memenuhi permintaan penduduk yang laju populasinya tak terkendali.

Dalam kurun waktu 50 tahun, populasi dunia meningkat hampir 60 persen, dari 2,5 miliar jiwa pada tahun 1950 menjadi sekitar 6 miliar jiwa pada tahun 2005. Jumlah manusia yang semakin bertambah menimbulkan konsekuensi semakin besarnya tingkat kebutuhan akan air yang bersih dan menyehatkan untuk hidup dan aktifitas kehidupan lainnya. Dan pada saat yang sama, kualitas air yang bersih dan menyehatkan semakin terbatas dan langka, akibat tercemarnya air oleh aktivitas industri, kegiatan pertambangan, kegiatan rumah tangga dan perilaku individu yang tidak bertanggung jawab. Terjadi ketimpangan antara kebutuhan air dengan ketersediaan air dalam jumlah dan kualitas yang memadai, sehingga menimbulkan kompetisi perebutan sumber daya air, yang mencuatkan konflik dan kekerasan. Di sisi lain, ketimpangan ini dilihat sebagai peluang bisnis oleh sebagian pihak yang kemudian mengarah pada privatisasi air atau komersialisasi air.
Privatisasi air menjadi ancaman serius. Air ditempatkan sebagai komoditas, sehingga makin menjauhkan fungsi esensial air sebagai komoditas publik. Dengan privatisasi, hanya mereka yang berkemampuan ekonomi yang bisa mengakses air. Privatisasi yang hanya bertujuan mencari profit bukan menjadi solusi bagi kelangkaan air, namun menjadi masalah baru dan menjerumuskan negara dalam jebakan utang yang semakin dalam. Contohnya Perusahaan Air Minum Jaya di Jakarta yang terjebak utang luar negeri Rp 1,6 triliun dan Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum di Kabupaten Sleman Yogyakarta yang juga terjerat sebesar Rp 26 miliar sampai pada awal tahun 2008 ini. Utang menjadi justifikasi bagi masuknya korporasi asing untuk menguasai distribusi air yang berorientasi pada profit dengan cara menaikkan harga air.
Air sebagai bagian hak mendasar (fundamental right) semakin digeser fungsinya menjadi komoditas bisnis dan politik sehingga mengancam pemenuhan hak asasi manusia bagi 1,1 miliar jiwa manusia di dunia yang belum bisa mengakses air bersih dan 2,4 miliar jiwa lainnya yang tidak mempunyai fasilitas sanitasi memadai, yang sebagian besar hidup di Benua Afrika dan Asia. Hal ini diperparah oleh manajemen air di dunia yang sangat buruk sehingga mengakibatkan tidak efisiennya distribusi air berupa kebocoran air yang sangat besar. Di Asia, tingkat kebocoran air mencapai 42 persen, di Afrika 39 persen, di Amerika Latin 42 persen, dan di Amerika Utara 15 persen. Kebocoran air ini diduga dilakukan secara sengaja untuk dijual secara illegal untuk kepentingan memperkaya diri para pejabat yang bertanggung jawab dalam penyediaan air bersih.

Kesenjangan kemampuan ekonomi antara negara-negara barat dan timur, juga menimbulkan adanya ketidakadilan atas akses air yang sangat serius. Di Amerika Serikat, setiap orang mengkonsumsi 158 galon air setiap hari, sedangkan di Senegal, hanya 7,6 galon per orang. Artinya konsumsi air untuk satu orang di Amerika bisa dikonsumsi delapan orang di Senegal. Pola konsumsi yang boros dan tidak fair ini pada akhirnya akan menjerumuskan pada ketidakadilan yang lain, karena perilaku sebagian kecil manusia yang boros akan sumber daya air akan ditanggung oleh sebagian besar umat manusia lainnya.
Dampak selanjutnya penyakit yang muncul sebagai akibat kekurangan air (water shortage) dan ketidakadilan atas akses terhadap air pun semakin bertambah dan menelan korban jiwa yang semakin meningkat. Menurut laporan Organisasi Kesehatan Dunia (WHO), sekitar 80 persen penyakit di dunia (kolera, disentri, hepatitis), adalah akibat manusia telah mengonsumsi air yang tidak memenuhi standar kesehatan. Industrialisasi yang dipusatkan di perkotaan telah menciptakan permukiman kumuh yang sangat sulit dijangkau jaringan air bersih dan semakin akutnya tingkat pencemaran air. Tingkat pencemaran air di kota-kota di Asia, termasuk Indonesia, sangat tinggi, karena 90 persen limbah air langsung dibuang ke sungai tanpa proses pengolahan.
Dalam Konvensi Hak Anak yang telah diratifikasi Pemerintah Indonesia, hak atas air diakomodasi dalam artikel 24: ”Negara wajib melakukan tindakan untuk memerangi penyakit dan kekurangan gizi pada anak melalui penyediaan nutrisi yang berkecukupan dan air minum yang bersih, dan juga memperhatikan bahaya dan resiko dari polusi lingkungan”. Kemudian Deklarasi Millenium yang mencetuskan proyek MDGs (Millenium Development Goals), yang merupakan komitmen para kepala negara/pemerintahan anggota PBB untuk memerangi kemiskinan global sampai antara tahun 2000-2015 menyerukan kepada pemerintah agar: ”menyediakan akses air bersih dan sanitasi yang memadai bagi masyarakat yang saat ini belum bisa menikmatinya”.
Namun demikian belum ada payung hukum, kebijakan dan implementasi program yang kongkret dari pemerintah Indonesia untuk menjamin ketersediaan air sebagai bagian dari hak asasi manusia. Yang terjadi adalah sebaliknya dengan disahkannya Undang-Undang No.7/2004 tentang Sumber Daya Air yang melegalisasi tumbuh suburnya bisnis air, sehingga bertentangan dengan berbagai Kovenan, Konvensi, maupun komitmen internasional hak asasi manusia yang menjamin air sebagai bagian untuk memenuhi hak asasi manusia Maka yang dibutuhkan sekarang kebijakan “air bagi semua” (water for all).

Tanpa itu, air hanya akan jadi komoditas bisnis dan politik yang tiada akhir, dikuasai oleh sebagian pihak dengan mencelakai lebih dari 100 juta jiwa di Indonesia dan lebih dari 3,5 miliar jiwa di dunia yang belum bisa menikmati air sebagai bagian dari pemenuhan hak asasinya.

Senin, 03 Desember 2007

Indonesia: A national park, its failure and impact on livelihoods


Local conversations about the classification of the Mount Merapi forest area into a national park often end up questioning why it was established as a park at all.

Mount Merapi forest ecosystem is located at 600 to 2968 meter above sea level, in Yogyakarta Province, Republic of Indonesia. With an area of 8,655 hectares, it is mostly covered by mountain tropical forest which is the source of living of a million people in four districts.
Surface water that comes from Mount Merapi is divided into 3 directions: Progo watershed in the west part, Opak watershed in the middle and Bengawan Solo watershed in the east part. These watersheds have been supplying water for consumption, irrigation, and industry for more than 5 million people of the Jogjakarta and Central Java provinces.
Unsustainable management of Mount Merapi is threatening its very existence. Water privatization by a commercial company is preventing about one thousand farmers from planting their farms; sand mining exploitation reaches 3,5 million cubic meter/year, wellspring sources have been quickly degraded, and flora and fauna is being destroyed.
But the paradigm of the government is still the same: exploitation of resources for cash without any consideration of long term use. Economics is put beyond environment and sustainability.
Many in the area expressed their opposition to the government's plan to classify the area into Mount Merapi National Park (MMNP), when the process began in 2001. Disregarding opposition, the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry issued a decree that officially changed the forest into a protected area on May 4, 2004.
We who oppose the measure denounce that the ministerial decree violates legal principles as well as principles of transparency, democracy and human rights, and is an expression of government's arrogance.
The decree goes against an earlier decree from the same ministry that sets out due process prior to the gazetting of a national park. The decision also contravenes Law No 22/1999 on regional autonomy because it ignores the authority of regional governments and legislative councils in the area.
The concept of national park first emerged in Western countries and was strongly influenced by classical concepts of conservation --a region tightly protected with no one allowed to touch it. It later developed into an eco-fascist conservation model that placed undisturbed "nature" as a top priority even if it meant getting rid of the local inhabitants.
The world's first national park was established in the U.S. in 1872 with the gazetting of the Yellowstone National Park. The park's management did not allow anyone to make use of the natural resources in the park, disregarding the fact that it was the home of indigenous tribes. Conflicts were unavoidable and led to the forced eviction of the indigenous communities from the region.
Unfortunately, many countries, including Indonesia, were inspired by that model. In 1980, the Indonesian government established the first five national parks.
The government applied the concept without considering its suitability to the country's social and economic conditions, apparently preferring to please Western countries rather than its own people. The fact that 42 national parks have been established across the country one after another without comprehensive studies on how the existing parks have been managed, proves so.
The conditions in many of the regions named national parks have worsened since they were gazetted as such. Instead of preserving the area and generating positive spin-offs, the establishment of national parks has often resulted in damage and disadvantage. The Mount Leuser, Mount Halimun, Kutai, Bukit Tiga Puluh, Tanjung Puting, Mount Palung, Ujung Kulon, Lore Lindu, Rawa Aopa, Komodo, Lorentz, and Wasur national parks are examples of how such conservation model leads to social and economic problems, and environmental degradation rather than preservation.
The application of the national park concept in Indonesia is not just at a theoretical level, but also at the policy and management levels. At the policy level, for example, through the National Park Management Body, the government discriminates between the rights of the management body and those of the people, who are considered subordinate to the management body. They have to obey the body without question while it applies fascist regulations that were made for the government's interests. Law No 5/1990 on the conservation of natural resources and ecosystems, which makes no mention of the people's role and rights regarding natural resources, is an example of this arrogance. The management body organization, too, is not only government-biased but, like other state organizations, suffers from corruption. As the manager of national parks, the management body holds almost complete authority. There is no room for the rights of the surrounding communities. That national park management is often corrupt is shown through its cooperation with business and the military in illegal deforestation --activities that have long been well known. The massive illegal logging that occurs in almost all national parks outside Java, including the Tanjung Puting and Mount Palung national parks, involves the management body management, businesspeople, and military personnel.
This cooperation also leads to the massive theft of biological resources, the eviction of the indigenous inhabitants and the openings of new mining sites inside supposed "national parks".
National parks in Indonesia do not mean conservation; they mean more damage to nature and the impoverishment of local communities.
One should well ask why the government established the Mount Merapi National Park without conducting comprehensive, participative studies prior to it. To my belief, the same problems in other areas will reoccur in Merapi. Why? Because the local community and the Merapi ecosystem are inseparable and interdependent.
For hundreds or maybe even thousands of years, the surrounding communities have been
wisely guarding Merapi because it guarantees their livelihoods through its clean water, green trees and because it provides food, shelter and medicines.
Will the establishment of Mount Merapi National Park fix the problems caused by sand quarrying on the slope of Merapi which in turn has caused damage to its forest and dried out its springs? Will the management of the National Park care about the fate of the evicted communities after the arrival of new "investors"? I really don't think so. The National Park system will never be able to answer these problems; it will instead create new ones that will further tarnish this beautiful area.
The problems of Merapi cannot be answered by classifying it as a national park. Only by empowering the local community and integrating the management of the Merapi area to involve all the stakeholders through the principles of cooperation, trust, participation and conservation, will we answer the area's problems.
What this area needs is a people-based conservation model, not a national park concept that has only proved to be a recurrent failure.
We won't let Merapi be another entry into the long list of national park disasters in Indonesia and also in many parts of the world, will we?

Rabu, 14 November 2007

Good bye Elja


Selamat jalan teman....

Tiga hari kau bersama kami....

Tapi kau akan kami kenang.....

Untuk selama-lamanya


Good bye friend......

Wana Mandhira Foundation

Background

Wana Mandhira Foundation is a community-based, non-governmental, non-profit and independent organization that focuses on environmental and natural resource management and advocacy. It was established by indigenous youth people in the village of Kaliurang on July 10, 1998 in response to global and local environmental degradation due to the rapid growth of tourism, mass development, and policy which neglected environment sustainability and indigenous people rights in Yogyakarta Province
We believe that the environment can be wisely conserved by raising indigenous people empowerment, building international awareness, promoting sustainable low impact human activities, and by lobbying levels of government and corporate to establish democratic environmental governance.

Vision

Raised environmental awareness of stakeholders and engaging conservation practice which respecting indigenous people rights

Mission

Promote awareness and practicing environmental and natural resources conservation through participatory management and community-based advocacy

Strategic Objective
-To help people to understand the impacts of human activities on the environment and to
-To strengthening people awareness and power to defend their rights and conserve the environment
-To take responsibility to be genuinely care about the environment
-To provide people with the capacity and information to advocate to resolve environmental problems and protect their rights

Activities
· Provide public advocacy on environmental issues in local, national, and international level.
· Empowering people through strengthening their capacities and capabilities to protect and defend their rights
· Design and implement environmental advocacy programs
· Provide capacity building for communities
· Participate in environmental and advocacy networking groups

Organizational Structure

Board Members:
Prof. Sarwidi, MSCE, Ph.D
Ir. Ismu Jayono
Drs. Agus Tarub
Mimin Dwi Hartono, SE

Executives board:
Co-ordinator: Purno Prabowo, ST
Secretariat : Wiwik, ST
Treasurer : Seni Triwini, SH
Staff:
Anggara Daniawan, SE
Banu Murtoyo
Krido Siswanto
Mira Asriningtyas
Eko Budi N, ST
Ivan Taufik


Advocacy Program
· Transform community environmental conflict
· Provided advocacy on public environmental policy at the regional level and national level
· Advocacy to against Mount Merapi National Park Project, 2001-present
· Advocacy against lava canal and dams of JBIC project in Mount Merapi, 2003-present
· Water sheds and environmental services campaign

Capacity Building Program
· Participating in International Training “Managing Conflict in Forest Resources Management” November 5-20, 2001 at RECOFTC Thailand
· Participating in International Conferences on Community-based Natural Resources Management, Philippine Nov 25-28, 2001.
· Hosted Work Placement Volunteer for CCI (Canadian Crossroads International), 2001
· SEACA (South-east Asian Committee on Advocacy) capacity building project, 2001-present
· Participated in Advocacy Strategy Development Internship Program by SEACA/IPD, Philippine February 2004.
Networking Program
· Developed Agro-forestry Projects with ICRAF-SEA/Winrock, 2001-2002
· Hosting SPARK study tour on water resources conflict management, March 2004.
· Hosting study tour for Mountain Forum and ICIMOD-Nepal in Kaliurang, August 2004
· Participated at 2nd Asian Civil Society Forum, November 2004, Bangkok.
· Participated at Preparatory Meeting for Global Civil Society Forum, UNEP-CONGO, Bangkok, November 2004.
· Participated at SEA Civil society on MDG’s, Bangkok, Nov 2004.
· Participated at the Fourth ASEAN People Assembly, ASEAN-ISIS, May 2005.
· Invited person for Informal Interactive Hearings for NGOs and CSOs of General Assembly, UNITED NATIONS, New York, 23-24 June 2005.
· Observer at Asian Pacific Ministerial Meeting on MDGs, Jakarta 1-5 August 2005.
· Participated at CSO Engagement in ASEAN, Bangkok, 3-5 Oct 2005

Fund Raising Program
· Developing environmentally sensitive tourism/ecotourism
· Provide environmental education
Facilitator of Training/Workshop
· Training for NGO Management (with Walhi)
· Training for Small Scale Business Management (with USC– Satunama)
· Training on Agro forestry in Nursery Establishment (with ICRAF SEA / Winrock)
· National Seminar on Conflict Resolution (with Center for Environmental Studies, UII)
· Training of Trainers on community based conflict resolution (with SEACA, Yogyakarta)
· Workshop on Merapi Management and Conservation, (iwith Kompas Daily Newspaper)
· Provide training on Collaborative Conflict Management in Forest Resource (with SCKPFP European Union)
· Workshop on Mountain Ecosystem Development and Management, (with Mountain Forum-Nepal),
· Facilitator of Workshop on WTO Impact for Cambodia Farmer, Phnom Penh, 23-24 December 2004

Networking
· SEACA (SEA Committee for Advocacy)
· International River Network
· Indonesia Forum on Environment
· Yogyakarta Forum of NGO’s
· Indonesia Environmental Education Network
· International Network on Forest and Communities
· Forest, Trees and People Network
· Earth Day Network
· Mountain Forum
· Anti DAM International Network
· United Nations-NGLS, etc