OK, maybe not quite a ‘vs’. Tension might be the right word. And here is a paper discussing the topic. Of all the criticism towards the human right to water, this paper might be among those which are most coherent. According to the author:

Abstract:
Water resources management has been shaped by a variety of paradigms reflecting the evolution of government policies and transient societal values. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) became a predominant management framework in the 1990s. The Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) to development has also emerged recently as an influential approach in the water sector. IWRM and the HRBA to development in the water sector overlap significantly. The interactions between the two approaches remain largely unexplored although their repercussions may be significant. Because they do not share identical premises and objectives, the concurrent implementation the two approaches might also lead to tensions detrimental to water resources management. The aim of this article is to explore the interactions between IWRM and the HRBA to development in the water sector. Questions raised by perceived conflicts are identified to help address potential tensions when the two approaches coexist. Synergies between IWRM and the HRBA are also detailed to establish how the two approaches are aligned.

Title:

A Clash of Paradigms in the Water Sector? Tensions and Synergies Between Integrated Water Resources Management and the Human Rights-Based Approach to Development

Keywords: Water, Human Rights, Human Rights-Based Approach to Development (HRBA), Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)

 

There are four points of potential and existing tensions which the author raised. They are:

 

1. The HRBA as an anthropocentric approach and the need for an ecosystemic contextualisation of claims on water resources;
2. The HRBA as an vehicle for developmental aspirations and the acknowledgement of limits in water resources availability;
3. The indistinct duties of right-holders in regards to the user-pays principle;
4. Economic water management and the need to protect marginal groups and the poor;

Download yourself directly from the SSRN.

I am currently writing a paper for a conference and all of these four aspects above will be considered.

Enjoy reading….

 

High tide floods 2007: “Signs of a sinking Jakarta”

 

 

Source: Presentation by Hongjoo Hahm and Janjaap Brinkmann (World Bank)

 

Brinkman’s statement that Jakarta might sink by 2025 was widely quoted by the media:

'The major reason for this is not climate change or whatever, but just the sinking of Jakarta,' said Mr Jan Jaap Brinkman, an engineer with Dutch consultancy Delft Hydraulics, who worked on the study. By 2025, estimates from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change show, sea levels would have risen by only about 5cm. But Mr Brinkman said that Jakarta, which spans a plain between coast and mountains, will be between 40cm and 60cm lower than it is now. The study shows that without better defences, the sea will reach the presidential palace, which is around 5km inland, in 2025 as well as completely inundate Jakarta's historic old city.

 

What you may not have seen is their full presentation:

Download directly from World Bank’s website.

Now, on to water services. VOA interviewed Jakarta Water Regulator who told that the rate of non-revenue water in Jakarta’s Water Supply System is around 50%. NGOs such as the Mercy Corps has been quite successful in engaging with local community in Penjaringan district in order to help them build water storage infrastructure. 

 

 

 

ADB is planning several million dollars project to restore the quality of Citarum river in West Java, the main supplier of bulk water to downstream cities such as the capital, Jakarta. The ICWRMIP will restore riverbanks along the Citarum. The project involves the resettlement of hundreds of households currently residing in the riverbanks. NGOs argued that not enough room for public participation is provided, something which the ADB denied.  NGOs also claim that the project will not likely to change anything as no mechanism for pollution control is included. I am not able to confirm any of these allegation but some documents relating to the project is available in the ADB website.

 

Read also: Finding a cure for Indonesia’s sick river (CNN)

 

Access your PC files using Dropbox for blackberry.

 

Dropbox is a tool for back-up and syncing files across computers. Now you can access files stored in your Dropbox using the blackberry app (beta). First of all, sign up for Dropbox here (if you click on that referral link you will get extra 250 MB). Secondly, download the jad file over the air (through your blackberry device) here.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

H.T. to: Mr.Bo

I argued once that one of the method in curbing corruption in the judiciary is by enhancing its transparency. Most of you might be familiar with the famous formula developed initially by Klitgaard: Corruption= (Monopoly+Discretion)-(Accountability+Transparency).

 

The World Bank series in Governance recently issued a publication on how to enhance transparency/access of information in the judiciary in Latin America. The analytical framework might be valuable for a future Indonesian case-study. Enjoy reading!

 

Click here to download the file.

 

Two confidential reports about Lapindo mudflow were uploaded to wikileaks. Here’s an excerpt from the wikileak page:

UK geologists downplayed Lapindo's argument and concluded that the earthquake was merely coincidental. While it could have generated a new fracture system and weakened strata surrounding the Banjar-Panji 1 well, it could not have been the cause of the formation of the hydraulic fracture that created the main vent 200 m (660 ft) away from the borehole. Additionally there was no other mud volcano reported on Java after the earthquake and the main drilling site is 300 km (190 mi) away from the earthquake's epicenter. The intensity of the earthquake at the drilling site was estimated to have been only magnitude 2 on Richter scale, the same effect as of a heavy truck passing over the area.

Read more.