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Uneven development and the commercialisation of public utilities: A political ecology analysis of water reforms in Malaysia

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  • Padfield, Rory
  • Tham, Mun Hou
  • Costes, Sophie
  • Smith, Laurence

Abstract

Water policy reforms introduced in Peninsular Malaysia have yielded relatively positive improvements in the operational and financial performance of water utilities. This article analyses contemporary water governance in the context of the historical origins of uneven water development in Malaysia and national heterogeneity in the political economy of water provision. The investigation builds on political ecology scholarship in urban water policy and reaffirms postcolonial critiques of neoliberal inspired water reforms in developing countries. Our study analyses the impact of the ‘asset light policy’ – a policy introduced in 2008 with the aim of commercialising public water utilities and centralising water sector investment and ownership. It is found that notwithstanding evidence of improved financial health and technical efficiency in certain states, the asset light policy has accentuated uneven water development across the country. Thus despite the policy's relatively narrow focus on technical and financial matters, it is shown to have a fundamentally political outcome. This in turn explains the current ‘policy impasse’ in five of the eleven states in Peninsular Malaysia. Furthermore, the omission of environmental considerations within the policy framework is argued to undermine the overall ambition of the policy. It is recommended that water policy makers give greater consideration to the embedded social, political and economic inequalities that characterize many former European colonies.

Suggested Citation

  • Padfield, Rory & Tham, Mun Hou & Costes, Sophie & Smith, Laurence, 2016. "Uneven development and the commercialisation of public utilities: A political ecology analysis of water reforms in Malaysia," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 152-161.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:40:y:2016:i:c:p:152-161
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2016.02.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tan, Jeff, 2012. "The Pitfalls of Water Privatization: Failure and Reform in Malaysia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(12), pages 2552-2563.
    2. Noel Castree, 2001. "Commodity Fetishism, Geographical Imaginations and Imaginative Geographies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 33(9), pages 1519-1525, September.
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    4. E Swyngedouw, 1997. "Power, Nature, and the City. The Conquest of Water and the Political Ecology of Urbanization in Guayaquil, Ecuador: 1880–1990," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 29(2), pages 311-332, February.
    5. Rory Padfield & Simon Drew & Khadijah Syayuti & Susan Page & Stephanie Evers & Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz & Nagulendran Kangayatkarasu & Alex Sayok & Sune Hansen & Greetje Schouten & Martha Maulidia & Effie, 2016. "Landscapes in transition: an analysis of sustainable policy initiatives and emerging corporate commitments in the palm oil industry," Landscape Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(7), pages 744-756, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Effie Papargyropoulou & Julia K. Steinberger & Nigel Wright & Rodrigo Lozano & Rory Padfield & Zaini Ujang, 2019. "Patterns and Causes of Food Waste in the Hospitality and Food Service Sector: Food Waste Prevention Insights from Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-21, October.
    2. Curran, Franziska & Smart, Simon & Lacey, Justine & Greig, Chris & Lant, Paul, 2018. "Learning from experience in the water sector to improve access to energy services," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 41-50.
    3. Njoh, Ambe J., 2018. "The relationship between modern Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and development in Africa," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 83-90.

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