Hong Kong — Activists gathered here say that no issue highlights the tension between the human values they advocate and the economic logic of the legion of corporate globalizers that have descended on this city more clearly than water.
Water is viewed as one of the last "profit centers" by the international financial institutions and trade can impact whether it becomes a commodity or stays in public hands — 90 percent of the world’s water supplies remain in the public trust. Most notably water’s on the table with the privatization of municipal water systems being aggressively pushed under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), a wide-ranging treaty that covers a host of services, both public and private.
Do you trust the Enrons of the world to manage your water? I didn’t think so…