Review of Reading 31: Privatizing Water

Hey Class!

So for my reading review, I read the article "Privatizing Water" written by Curtis Runyan. 

Before we begin, I think we all should have a little lesson on what WATER PRIVATIZATION even is so we can all have an understanding of what is being discussed!...

• Privatizing water is a private sector's participation in the provision of water sanitation, services, management, and ownership. Which means the water run and owned by these private sectors are not government funded.
  
• Reasons for privatizing water: mobilizing financing for investment, need for technical expertise, saving the municipalities money, and increasing efficiency.
  
• In developing countries, there have been pressure from financial institutions for these developing countries to privatize their water because their government doesn't have the funds to support the water in addition to the other government-funded resources that their citizens need.
  
• Arguments opposing privatizing water: 
  

~water is more expensive

~less quality and safety of the water

~will lead to giant multinational corporations controlling the necessities of life

~profits would be valued over service

~reduced access to the poor

~loss of jobs due to staff cuts to reduce operation costs of the companies

Image from David Baldinger

Summary of Reading 31: 

This article starts us off with an event that happened on April 8, 2000 in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Thousands of people had stormed the central plaza to continue a protest that has been going on for months. A 17 year old student was killed and hundreds more injured during this protest. What was all this rage and chaos about? WATER PRIVATIZATION. 

The city of Chochabamba privatized their water in 1999 after the World Bank had threatened to withhold money in debt relief if Bolivia did not privatize their water. Water bills rose by 35% which lead the citizens to this protest. Eventually, the protesters declared victory after the Bolivian government decided to take control of their water systems. In the world, 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water due to government failure. There are now 36 countries which are all in Africa, Asia, and the Middle-East that are water stressed and 7 more countries will join the ranks by 2015 which will effect the global water-market by $1 trillion. Many developing countries  are faced with rapid urbanization and are looking to the corporate sector for assistance. This dependancy on corporate sectors has lead to citizens of poor communities paying up to 40 times the municipal rate and the quality of water is questionable and unreliable. In Ghana, the average income is barely over a $1 a day. This is still an on going debate on who controls the water, and back in Cochabamba, the future of the city's water system is still uncertain.

Choh's Final Thoughts and Concepts That Challenged My Thinking:

• Water: A human right or a commodity? Do you think water is a fundamental human right, or a commodity, a privileged service that you can only access if you can afford it? We all know water is a major necessity of life! Why take this human right away from people who cannot afford it? We all need water and many people will not be able to have adequate amounts to live a healthy life.
• To put yourselves in the shoes of the people effected, I want you to imagine making $1 a day, supporting a family, and also think of your current utility bills right now...now think about increasing that bill by 35%! Is this sustainable? Definitely not.
• The issue of privatizing water and lack of quality to low income families reminds me of the documentary "Green" and environmental racism. Maude Barlow, an opponent of water privatization stated, "Because the companies are motivated to profit and not public service, they have no incentive to supply the poor with water." I believe water is not about profit, but since these citizens have no money, they don't have rights to a basic need? 
• I don't want to be narrow-minded and one-sided here, so I tried looking at why some areas should privatize water. I can understand why financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have encouraged developing countries to privatize their water because it will financially help the money issues of the government. But in the long run, I believe the nation's government would eventually become corrupt because of the citizens not being able to afford a necessity in their life. I think as long as countries are going to be money-hungry and not concerned about the well-being of their own citizens, water privatization will be an on-going issue.

New Terms:

• Water Privatization- private sector participation in water services and sanitation
• Private Sectors- private economy which is run for private profit and it is not controlled by the government
• Urbanization-physical growth of rural or natural areas as a result of population growth
• Water Stressed-not enough fresh water to meet the industrial, municipal, and food production needs of the people.
• Municipal Rate- an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory commonly denotes a city, town, or village.
• Commodity-Anything for which there is a demand
• Fundamental Right- or a human right which is the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled

Learn More:

• People's Declaration AGAINST Water Privatization
• Opening the Floodgates: Why Water Privatization Will Continue

Thanks for reading! Let me know what your thoughts are!!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi