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A botched survey two centuries ago put Georgia’s northern border just short of the Tennessee River. Given their unprecedented and severe drought, some in Georgia want the border redrawn so they can get the water. The reaction of the Tennessee governor? “This is a joke, right?” Thames Water and other privatized water companies in Scotland have “third world” equipment and are currently dumping 1000 liters per second of raw sewage into the water because darn it, something broke, and company execs are just too busy counting their massive profits to go fix it. This on top of massive leaks that occur [...] This protest in Nepal is one more battle in the worldwide fight against water privatization. Another front is in Northern Ireland with the We Won’t Pay campaign. The French company that ran the water company after it was privatized in 1997 came under criticism because of high rates and a refusal to provide service for all, a familiar complaint about privatized water companies. Bolivia just completed their take-over of the company (the company received a severance payment.) “Water cannot be turned over [...] Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. Thou shalt not … drink bottled water? Reasons include that the water used in bottling comes from poorer areas, thus either depriving them of water or making it more expensive. Then there’s the appalling number of non-biodegradable plastic bottles that end in landfills. The [...] A giant water company tried to privatize the water in Stockton CA. The people fought back, and after many battles, a judge has ruled the city must take back the water company. Water needs to be public and not at the mercy of distant huge entities for whom it is a source of income to [...] The United Church of Canada is urging members to avoid bottled water, saying it is the “thin edge” of water privatization, part of a larger trend of huge companies controlling water resources to the detriment of everyone else. Plus, they add, municipal water is often healthier because impurities leach from the plastic bottles into the [...] Water privatization, large corporations are finding, is a money-losing proposition. One of the biggest companies in the business is backing out. Good. May this signal an end to greedheads grabbing the water, jacking up prices, and lowering the quality. Because, more often then not, that’s what precisely happens when water is privatized. To RWE AG, [...] When cities hire firms to run utilities, they seek quality at lower cost. They may get ethics scandals, violations and irate consumers. In some places, private-sector management helped trim bureaucracies and replace decaying infrastructure, local officials say. But in Indianapolis, New Orleans, Atlanta and other cities, privatization has been accompanied by corruption scandals, environmental violations [...] Third World countries, led by Bolivia and social organizations, have ratified their rejection of the privatization of water at the 4th World Water Forum, underway in Mexico City. Spokespeople from these sectors voiced their opposition to the intention of developed nations and international organizations to exclude the human right to water from the meeting’s final [...] |  | ||||
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