uruguayans unite against water
sell-off
In
Uruguay, the public water utility OSE has
up to now, delivered safe and affordable
water to more than 90% of the country’s 3.5
million population. Recently, this
essential resource has been under the
threat of privatization by multinational
water corporations. Experience has shown
that they largely operate without public
input and in the sole interest of their
shareholders, have a history of
mismanagement, and do not guarantee
resources to adequately protect water
resources. However, on the 31st October
2004, in a victory for social justice,
Uruguayan people voted to make water a
human right in the Constitution, setting
the basis for its exclusive public,
participative and sustainable
management.
water privatization in uruguay
In 1992, citizen opposition stopped the
government from massive water sell-offs.
The government gradually prevailed,
however, turning water management over to
private hands at every opportunity during
the following decade. While the state-owned
OSE water company experienced few problems
during its tenure, private companies are
consistently delivering low-quality, uneven
water supplies that leave many people
without water. The promise of privatization
i.e. companies having the management
expertise and resources to efficiently
deliver water has not materialized.
Nowhere in Uruguay has the privatization
promise gone more unfulfilled than in the
touristy Department of Maldonado. In 1998,
despite strong opposition from the OSE
union and the communities of Maldonado, the
government gave a private concession to the
"Aguas de la Costa" consortium, a local
subsidiary of French water giant SUEZ, to
manage water for about 2,500 users of the
Maldonado province. Since the takeover,
consumers have had to pay water rates ten
times higher than previously, and in return
have had to deal with broken pipes, smelly
and undrinkable water, and low reservoir
levels caused by mismanagement. Since
water-for-profit schemes per definition
mean that no one can have free water,
companies removed public springs upon which
hundreds of poor people were dependent.
However, the government’s drive to
privatize has not been deterred. In 2000,
the government awarded a 30-year water
supply contract to Uragua LTD, a subsidiary
of Aguas de Bilbao, a Spanish public
utility. The company was to supply water to
the more densely populated and touristy
western section of Maldonado. In less than
a year, the company’s negligence caused a
pipe to break, leaving the town of
Piriapolis without water for four days. The
company allowed liquid residuals to
overflow, polluting water, which was then
diverted to a harbor. In one town the
state’s own laboratories twice recommended
that water be boiled before drinking, with
consumers all over the region complaining
that the water left residues and brown
spots in sinks and toilets. Nevertheless,
Maldonado citizens pay the highest rates of
the country.
By 2003 the government could no longer
turn a blind eye. It announced it would
terminate the Uragua’s contract and OSE
would provide the service again. This was a
great victory, but so far only an empty
promise. The company is still operating
and, in fact, has generated handsome
profits during the 2004 tourist season.
"Water Yes. Robbery No." is the motto of
the Manantiales Promotion League, one of
the Maldonado citizen organizations
protesting the high prices and lack of
access to water under private management.
In the neighbourhood of San Antonio III,
the community successfully protested the
elimination of the public spring. The
company not only left the spring alone, but
now also maintains it. Still the local
government must pay for the service.
water – a human right in uruguay!
The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
has provided the strongest political
intervention on behalf of the privatization
of water. In the middle of the 2002, at the
most dramatic moment of the Uruguayan
economic crisis, the IMF asked the
government to deregulate and privatize
several state-run sectors of the economy.
The government then signed a Letter of
Intent in which they agreed to reduce its
control on the water sector to aid new
private investors.
When the "agreement" between the
Uruguayan government and the IMF was
announced, a number of social organizations
joined to stop the privatization of the
water sector. The National Commission in
Defence of Water and Life, which includes
Friends of the Earth Uruguay, together with
a coalition of union organizers, students,
policymakers, and people from all walks of
life, said "NO" to the government’s
sell-off of water resources to
trans-national corporations, and through a
democratic process, wrote and presented a
proposal to reform the Uruguayan
constitution to declare access to clean,
safe water a fundamental human right.
Despite strong opposition and lobbying from
the private water sector, on a historical
day, more that 60% of the people of Uruguay
voted
on the 31st October in favour of the
proposal. This outcome will prohibit water
concessions to corporations and sets the
basis for the establishment of
participatory management mechanisms that
involve local communities and preserve
water for future generations.
more information
read more about the
action
and the
history
Friends of the Earth Uruguay
Federacion F. OSE (Water
Union)
Real World Radio
