Constitutional court's review and the future of water law in Indonesia

This article explains the historical development of the water regime in Indonesia and analyses the position of water rights and human rights to water under Indonesian Constitution. It elaborates the key provisions of Indonesian water law and analyses the legal consequences of the review in order to make recommendations to the government on the parts of the law that needs to be amended or modified.The author discusses several important issues that needs to be weighed by governments when creating the water law's implementing regulation, including regulating several standard contract provisions between government and water investors.The paper concludes by stating that:fifty million people in Indonesia will require access to water by 2015water access needs to be improved by either private participation or the development of existing water companiesthe law opens the door to private participation but governments should move cautiouslyprivatisation may not be the best solution in rural areasif privatisation is implemented, existing law needs to be reformed to protect citizensthe law and its regulation must be aimed toward the enhancement of the poor’s access to water