Nusa Dua, May 22, 2024 - The Indonesian government is increasingly focusing on promoting the role of regional governments to enable them to provide water infrastructure for communities in remote areas, including ensuring access to clean water and adequate sanitation.

This was stated by the Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY), in the Local Process session of the 10th World Water Forum at Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Bali, on Wednesday (5/22/2024).

Indonesian Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian, the President of the World Water Council Loïc Fauchon, the President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and Mayor of the city of Konya Uğur İbrahim Altay and the Moroccan Minister of Equipment and Water Nizar Baraka, also took part in the forum.

“The role of local governments is to ensure that all communities have equal access to water and sanitation. Local governments must ensure that all communities have equitable, safe, affordable and adequate access to meet domestic and industrial needs," Agus said.

He further said that maintaining water security is very important for the sustainability of the nation's future generations and that water management must be improved for the benefit of all people.

He therefore called on local governments, including the governor, regent or mayor and the regional apparatus of the regional government, to ensure access to water and infrastructure for the benefit of the population, in line with the theme of the 10th Congress.

Minister Tito Karnivan expressed similar sentiments, saying that the challenge of water demand will increase as the impact of climate change on human life becomes more evident.

For this reason, he said, the local process within the 10th World Water Forum is very important in order to improve cooperation and the exchange of ideas, experiences and knowledge between the regions with regard to water management in their respective regions.