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Water forum urges regional action
A regional forum of international
experts urged Asia-Pacific leaders Thursday to put better
management of water resources and dealing with water-caused
disasters on top of their national agendas.
The low priority given to water issues had led to mismanagement,
pollution and a lack of access to water for drinking, sanitation
and other purposes, the governing council of the Asia Pacific
Water Forum said after a two-day meeting here.
It has also led to inadequate preparation in preventing disasters
and dealing with the aftermath of calamities like recent deadly
floods in Jakarta, the council said.
The forum, which includes experts from the United Nations and the
Asian Development Bank (ADB), is preparing its position ahead of
an inaugural Asia Pacific Water Summit in Japan in early December.
Forty-nine national leaders have been invited to attend the
December 3-4 summit to discuss water-related issues.
“We hope that one of the outcomes of the summit is that the
leaders in their declaration will make a major commitment to
making water a matter of great national priority in each of their
countries,” said Tommy Koh, chairman of the water forum’s
governing council.
The forum also hopes the leaders “will commit themselves to
substantially increasing investments in the water sector,” Koh
told a news conference.
KE Seetharam, a water and sanitation specialist at the ADB, said
the Manila-based lender has doubled to two billion dollars its
annual assistance to help countries improve the delivery of water
services over the next five years.
But he said the ADB “looks forward” to the support of government
leaders and decision-makers to increase investments in water
infrastructure.
Indonesia’s Erna Witoelar, a UN special ambassador to the
Asia-Pacific region, said dealing with water-related disasters
should also be a priority.
“The more we are aware of the increasing water-related disasters,
the more we realise how little prepared we are ... not just to
prevent water-related disasters, but also when it happens, how to
go about it, and how to help handle the aftermath of those
disasters,” she said.
In many Asia-Pacific countries there were four to five ministries
handling water-related issues, in addition to local governments
and other entities, she noted.
Witoelar and the other experts called for better coordination and
governance of these various ministries and agencies.
While Asia had 60 percent of the world’s population, it had only
about 36 percent of its water resources, said Ravi Narayanan, vice
chairman of the forum’s governing council.
With regional economies growing rapidly, the demand for water was
“insatiable,” he said.
“The whole issue of the environmental aspect of water ... and
issues of pollution ... are not issues for the future. They are
with us and they are only going to get worse if we don’t pay
attention to that,” he said.
Hideaki Oda, of the Japan Water Forum, dismissed suggestions that
future wars would be waged over water.
“If we live together, we can solve the problem of water,” he said.
 
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