(8/23/2010)
Vociferous complaints from Bali businesses surrounding increases in the tariff for well-water will not dissuade governor Made Mangku Pastika from his plans to increase water rates by as much as 1,000 percent.
Bisnis Bali reports that one prominent member of the Bali House of Representatives (DPRD-Bali), Wayan Rawan Atmaja, has stated his support for the governor's tough new policy, questioning at the same time the veracity of local businesses in truthfully revealing their utilization of well-water.
He questioned: ”Do all these will have meters and are they reported? For instance, in the Nusa Dua complex there have been a number of traditional wells used by local people that have gone dry.”
Rawan suspects that local community wells have been depleted because of the use of ground water by hotels operating in the region. He said he suspected that some hotels were operating as many as 5 wells, but only reporting a portion of them.
He promised that he will join other members of the local legislature to survey the presence of ground water wells.
The governor, speaking on national independence day on August 17, 2010, insisted the higher rates for well-water must move ahead, reminding business people that he is allowing a phased-in approach to the increase of only 50% of the declared increase through the end of 2010, with the full increase in rates to apply in 2011.
Bali's governor remains steadfast in his insistence that Bali worsening water crisis and the intrusion of salt water into the island's water tables make higher water rates and strict conservation of water resources an absolute necessity.
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