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march 3, 2003, london, united kingdom /
tokyo, japan
new report shows negative impacts,
threats of water privatization
A new report to be released on the eve of
the Third World Water Forum shows that water
privatization has had negative impacts on
communities in many countries and threatens
to affect an increasing number of people in
2003, the United Nations International Year
of Water, and beyond.
The report, 'Water Justice for All' will
be released on March 10, 2003 just prior to
the March 16-23 World Water Forum in Kyoto,
Japan and World Water Day (March 22). It
reports "global and local resistance to the
control and commodification of water" through
14 case studies (1) and was published by
Friends of the Earth International, the
world's largest grassroots environmental
network (2).
The Third World Water Forum in Japan will
adopt a World Water Action, drafts of which
show some very impressive rhetoric. But the
bottom line is increased market access for
private water companies, and corporate
lobbyists will be present in numbers to
ensure that this happens in Kyoto.
Only about 5 percent of the world's water
is currently in private hands. The water
sector thus has an enormous potential for the
few multinational corporations that dominate
this market: mainly Suez (France) and Vivendi
Universal (France) but also Thames Water (UK
but part of German RWE) and Betchel
(USA).
According to Hemantha Withanage of Friends
of the Earth Sri Lanka, "Water is a basic
human right, and although water management in
the public interest may be necessary, this
vital resource should not be subject to
ownership. International financial
institutions, hand-in-hand with multinational
water corporations, are paving the way by
conditioning their loans to poor countries
upon privatization promises. Trade treaties
are helping by requiring countries to
deregulate their water sectors and open them
up to private investment."
"The world's poorest people are
desperately in need of water and sanitation
services, but experience has shown that they
are just further marginalized when their
countries follow the corporate mode of
privatization. Unable to afford connection to
the services, they are condemned to using
water that runs the risk of being
contaminated," according to Withanage.
In the report Friends of the Earth
Malaysia states that "The World Bank and
other international financial institutions
play a key role in promoting water
privatization around the world, in alliance
with the multinational water giants and the
trade agreements, promoted by industrialized
countries, that pry water markets open for
corporate access."
"The World Bank's insistence that "water
must be treated as an economic good" means
that if you are rich enough, you can use
water as wastefully as you like. For the
poor, however, access to water for even the
most basic of needs will be a daily struggle,
" according to Friends of the Earth
Malaysia.
Since water is a critical resource for
sustainable livelihoods and therefore a human
right, water as a resource (ie water in or on
the ground) should never be privatized,
according to Friends of the Earth
International. However, some countries have
found it possible to establish appropriate
controls that permit efficient and equitable
operation of water delivery systems by
private firms.
The report is EMBARGOED until its official
release date: March 10, 2003 Advance copies
of the report are available for journalists
at
www.foei.org
in
English, French and Spanish. The report
should not be reproduced nor mentioned before
its official release date: March 10,
2003.
For more information please contact:
In Asia: Kenichi Nakazawa, Friends of the
Earth Japan press officer: +81-3-39511081
Hemantha Withanage,Friends of the Earth Sri
Lanka or Rod Harbinson (FoEI) In Manila /
Kyoto: + 31-6-51005630. Reachable from March
10 to 26 ONLY. Meena Raman,Friends of the
Earth Malaysia:+60-4-227 6930 (Malaysian
tel.)
In Europe: Matt Phillips, Friends of the
Earth EWNI in the United Kingdom: +
44-207-5661660
In the Americas: Carol Welch, Friends of
the Earth USA : +1-202-7837400 ext 237 David
B. Brooks, Friends of the Earth Canada tel:
+1-613-2410085 ext 27
Notes to editors:
(1) The 14 countries include: Malaysia,
Uruguay, Indonesia, Bolivia, Peru, France,
Sri Lanka, Paraguay, Canada, Belgium, Norway,
Australia and Switzerland.
(2) Friends of the Earth International is
the world's largest grassroots environmental
network with 68 national member groups and
around one million members. More information
at: www.foei.org
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