Hemantha Withanage
Environmental Foundation Ltd
Water in its political role
Whether it is urban or rural sector, water services play
a major political role in Sri Lanka. In this regard many
government agencies are created to deal with water.
Local authorities, i.e. Pradeshiya Saba,
Municipal and Urban councils supply water for domestic,
commercial and industrial sector in retail. For those who
cannot afford priced water are provided with community water
pipes.
Sri Lankan water policy
The local water policy supported by the ADB states that
only the private sector has the capacity to meet the water
needs of the country. It considers water as a economic good.
This is a major conceptual shift towards private sector
involvement. This allows public water and sanitation services
be in the hands of the private sector.
Impacts of privatization
Privatization means that the management of water resources
is based on principles of scarcity and profit maximization
rather than long-term sustainability. Privatization has
not delivered high environmental standards, but has brought
an increase in the price to the consumer.
According to International Water Management
Institute :IWMI, which is actively working in Sri Lanka,
the most important aspect of water pricing and privatization
is that it encourages people to use water wisely, not to
waste it.
When privatized the accessibility and affordability
of water to women and children are greatly reduced. More
than five million people, most of them children, die every
year from illnesses caused from drinking poor quality water.
Women and children, who bear most of the burden of daily
household chores, have to work harder to collect water-
often resorting to water from polluted streams and rivers.
Privatization reduces the democratic involvement
of both citizens and governments in water management decision-making.
As a result the public's access to information from corporations
is restricted. The nature of the water industry is such
that only one corporation can be involved in the management
of water in a given region. Once private monopoly is established
it is extremely difficult to reverse it.
Water Entitlements; What implications?
Currently, all water sources are public property. But if
one owns a land one can draw water from the underground.
The proposed water entitlement gives a transferable water
right (entitlement) to the bulk water users. This will allow
those bulk water users to sell their water entitlements
to an outsider. Non-entitlement holder will have no rights
to oppose this ventures but he or she will be the one who
suffers.
The Sri Lankan water policy has been strictly
focusing on water right allocation, i.e. entitlements. But
the Policy does not specify who are not eligible for water
entitlements.
There is a large number of multinational companies
involved in water industries of the country. Although the
new policy specifies that the people of Sri Lanka own water
through entitlements, the policy is silent on how they handle
the foreign companies in the water sector. Transferable
Water entitlements could be an opening for the private water
companies to get hold at the nation's water resources. There
is no doubt that this policy is to serve as a water pricing
mechanism.
To obtain water entitlements there is an initial
payment under this policy and from time to time a fee should
be paid to renew the entitlement. Otherwise water rights
are automatically cancelled. This greatly affects farmers
because their income is indefinite due to unexpected causes.
If the entitlements are not renewed, they will not get water
for the next season. Will this situation ensure food security?
When the price of water increases, it becomes
less accessible to poor and they are forced to drink water
that is unfit for human consumption.
Conclusion
The involvement of MDBs in the water sector is very harmful
for the local water rights. This could give opportunity
for private water companies to get hold of the local water
resources. The transferable entitlements will be the tool
to hand over this water ownership to the private sector.
Decisions-making about allocation and distribution should
be democratic and based on everyone's fundamental right
to a clean, healthy water supply. Management of water resources
needs to be based on long-term sustainability rather than
on profit maximization The right to access water for life
of people, animals, and trees should not be allowed to be
violated by any policy.
The problematic areas with the policy draft
prepared on July 2002(*1)
The first water policy was approved by the
Cabinet in March 2000. Under this policy the Governments
owns the water resourses and the public needs to have water
entitlement in order to obtain water from any water sources.
The public protest against this policy began in November
2000 and the policy was changed after several months of
protesting. Environmental Foundation conducted awareness
programs and assisted public to organize against of this
unjust policy. Most of the participants were farmers. As
a result of these activities a new draft of the water policy
has been released by the Water resources secretariat on
25th July 2002.
Water pollution:
If we really want to protect our water, there should be
an active policy to control large scale water pollution
by industries. It is known fact that industries are getting
water for lower price, and that they contribute to extensive
pollution by releasing untreated waste water to open water
ways. There should be a strict policy process to cancel
the entitlements of theses misuses. Though already there
are rules and regulations regarding this, they are notenforeced.
Ancient Tank System:
Water sovereignty is the key factor of the economic sovereignty.
Sri Lanka owned many traditional technologies to bring the
water sovereignty to the country in the ancient times. This
policy has completely forgotten our ancient tank system,
which supplied water irrigation throughout the year. Historically,
Sri Lanka has being a self-sufficient nation, and the tanks
were the best method to collect rainwater. Watershed areas
that are identified to have significant affects on the national
water resources, this should be conserved and protected
from being destroyed by urbanization.
Water for life:
Water is an issue, which should be looked beyond the human
perspective. Water management needs to have environmental
protection agenda, such as : protecting water from pollution,
making necessary amount of water available, ensuring water
sovereignty and protecting the water from being taken illegitimately.
Furthermore, water is the basic need of the ecosystem and
all other life forms. Therefore, water cannot be totally
owned by the human.
(*1)This box is excerpted from Neththipola,
Rathnawalee."Sri Lankan Water Policy: Pricing, Privatizing
and Entitlements" Environmental Foundation, Ltd.) .
