Prabowo plans water agency as part of Indonesia security policy

JAKARTA – Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto is planning a new government agency to tackle the nation’s longstanding problems with clean water access as part of his national security policy, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The agency will make it a priority to expand the distribution of clean water across the Indonesian archipelago, building more water pipe networks and artesian wells, said the people with knowledge of the plan, who asked not to be named as the matter has not been made public.

Mr Prabowo’s plans are in the early stages and there are discussions on how the agency will be set up, the funding required and the candidates who could lead the body, the people said.

It comes as Mr Prabowo considers increasing the number of ministries under his administration, which critics say will only boost red tape and inefficiency. 

A water agency is needed for South-east Asia’s largest economy, where almost 70 per cent of the 278 million population lacks access to clean water, according to recent data.

In Indonesia’s commercial capital Jakarta, one in three residents does not have access to piped water, relying instead on the thousands of illegal wells that deplete the aquifers, weaken the ground and accelerate the city’s sinking.

Mr Prabowo’s office did not respond to requests for comment from Bloomberg News.

Water has become a pressing issue in Indonesia, particularly after the April heat wave that swept through Asia, bringing temperatures as high as 46 deg C in some places.

The scorching weather has hit water-reliant Indonesian rice fields, triggering record prices and crop failures in one of the world’s biggest producers of the grain. 

Mr Prabowo, who

takes over the nation’s highest office in October

, sees water and food security as non-military threats that need immediate solutions.

The retired general raised the issue of water security as part of his presidential campaign and as defence minister, he formed a task force to expand clean water distribution points. 

Indonesian government officials have attempted to improve clean water accessibility but these initiatives have not entirely succeeded.

Outgoing President Joko Widodo said his government bolstered water infrastructure over the last decade, including constructing 42 dams and rehabilitating 4.3 million hectares of irrigation networks.

In the latest effort, the government has also tapped Indonesian billionaire Anthoni Salim to expand piped water access in Jakarta under a US$1.7 billion(S$2.29 billion) deal to build, among others, a treatment plant. BLOOMBERG