AI boom sparks water shortages and protests on Indonesian island

Detailed summary

Cooking and bathing became difficult when taps ran dry in Batam, an Indonesian island where residents are protesting as data centers spring up to power the global artificial intelligence boom.

The area had suffered a "long drought" caused by low rainfall, the local water utility operator told AFP, as a strong El Nino cycle exacerbates dry weather.

But, as in other countries, anger has been directed at the data centers, warehouse-like facilities that keep apps and artificial intelligence tools running, with water often used to cool their humming servers.

Frustration is bubbling over in Indonesia and Malaysia -- especially in regions bordering Singapore that are seen as a prime location for new tech facilities.

At first the main reaction was, "thank God industry is coming" to Batam, 54-year-old tradesman Juniardi Adinda Sembiring Gurukinayan told AFP.

But severe recent outages hitting the municipal water service in some Batam communities meant "sometimes I skipped my shower".

"We cannot eat rice without water. We cannot cook vegetables without water," he said.

At the worst point, dozens of angry residents staged spontaneous protests outside Nongsa Digital Park -- a new cluster of data centers and other amenities, designated a special economic zone.

People in the district believe "that the water shortages... are related to the construction of data centers", Juniardi said.

The drought caused the nearby Nongsa Reservoir to run very low, and supply systems were further disrupted by an electrical fault, said Ginda Alamsyah, a spokesman for water utility operator Air Batam Hilir (ABH).

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