Australia to Aid Jakarta, Makassar in Water Management Programs

Jakarta Globe, Nicole Jade Millane & Abdul Khalik, January 22, 2014

A woman wades through floodwaters in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Jan. 21,
 2014. (EPA Photo/bagus Indahono)

One of the most crucial current problems facing the country may have a solution, as the Australian federal government initiates plans to work with Indonesian authorities on developing a more sustainable way to manage water in the capital and other cities across the archipelago.

With political relations between Canberra and Jakarta currently at a low, the initiative seems to be part of a larger strategy to win the hearts and minds of Indonesians following reports of Australian intelligence services spying on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife Ani Yudhoyono and national officials.

The Australian government feels water development and management in Indonesia, and particularly Jakarta, is a great way to rebuild a positive relationship between the neighbors.

“This is part of Australia’s engagement to Asia,” Julianne Merriman, Australia’s trade and investment commissioner in Indonesia, said at a press gathering on Tuesday.

Australia has also launched an Asian engagement program called the New Colombo Plan, which is aimed to send more Australian youths to Asia, including Indonesia, for internships at companies and organizations as well as to learn the culture of their host countries.

Australia has pledged A$532 million ($467 million) in funding to Indonesia this year, almost A$50 million more than it gave last year, with AusAID aggressively working on helping education and health improvement across Indonesia.

Future business relations also look promising and engagement is likely to continue across several platforms, officials and businesspeople from both countries say.

Jonathan McKeown, chief executive of the Australian Water Association, who is visiting Indonesia as part of three-country trip, has met with local officials including Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama to discuss possibilities for Australia to help cities, especially Jakarta, deal with water sanitation, flood mitigation, waste water and water conservation.

McKeown said that everyone he met had expressed interest in Australia’s plan to help mitigate flooding.

On Tuesday, he met with outgoing Makassar Mayor Ilham Arief Sirajuddin and Mayor-Elect Danny Pomanto to discuss future plans to develop the city’s water management using Australian technology across different areas.

“Makassar is to become a pilot project,” McKeown said.

Both Ilham and Danny, who will take over the city’s government by May, expressed their willingness to cooperate with Australia to manage water better.

“We are happy to be chosen by the Australian government. We have the political will to support whatever plan they have,” Ilham said.

Although the AWA is still developing ideas on which particular water management plan to launch, a plan for a water reservoir lower than Makassar that manages clean water is estimated to cost up to $40 million, according to Danny.

“We must focus on one concrete project, and building this reservoir is the most viable one. Australian officials have expressed their agreement and they plan to come to see it themselves later this month,” he said.

Merriman said that they must choose a project with the highest chance of success. She also said that Makassar was a great place to begin a project as it was a “dynamic, growing and progressive” city.

Makassar, she said, will be used as a starting point in the hopes that it will become a pilot city for successful water management in Jakarta.

With the recent dramatic and damaging floods affecting Jakarta, plans for future sustainable water management can’t come fast enough for the city, and McKeown said that AWA planned to create long-term resolutions for the capital.