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Saturday, December 27, 2003
Water privatization: The next global war
By Ted Aldwin Ong
Part 1
The next global war will be waged to monopolize water utilities. "The wars of the next century will be about water," said Ismail Serageldin of World Bank. The Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD), Iloilo City's water distribution utility, is at the helm of privatization and, for sure, this will be the start of another consumer battle as private hands take monopoly of the most important "public utility" just like what's happening to the Philippine power industry.
As the lead organization in challenging the global framework of privatization, the Freedom from Debt Coalition strengthened its position on water privatization by uniting in the call for the reversal of the privatized set-up, and the need to institute major reforms in the industry.
This was premised not only on the gross failures of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) undertaking vis-…-vis its avowed benefits for consumers and the government but, more so, on the conviction that a resource as critical to life as water should remain in public hands.
However, even with water in public hands, there is still a need for strict regulation especially in the Philippines where there is a weak tradition of consumer protection. No strong consumer movement has developed in the country yet, and government simply has no occasion to develop its regulatory capacity of the private sector.
A political set-up where the private interests of elite families are well represented and, predictably, strongly defended compounds this problem. As in the past, the government has proven itself vulnerable to pressure, allowing the elite to arrogate unto themselves the power to make decisions over sectors critical to society such as water and power.
In Maude Barlow's "Blue Gold, The Global Water Crisis and the Commodification of the World's Water Supply," he presented the following points for dialogue in order to take the kind of action needed by all levels of government and communities around the world in the issue of water control.
First, water belongs to the earth and all its species. Water like air, is necessary for life. Without water, humans and other things would die and the earth's systems would shut down. Modern society has lost its reverence for water's sacred place in the cycle of life as well as its centrality to the realm of the spirit. This loss of reverence for water
has allowed humans to abuse it. Only by redefining our relationship to water and recognizing its essential and sacred place in nature can we begin to right the wrongs we have done.
Because water belongs to the earth and all species, decision-makers must represent the rights and needs of other species in their policy choices and actions. Future generations also constitute "stakeholder" status requiring representation in decision making about water. Nature, not man, is at the center of the universe. For all our brilliance and accomplishment, we are a species of animal that needs water for the same reason as other species. Unlike other species, however, only humans have the power to destroy ecosystems upon which all depend and so humans have the urgent need to redefine our relationship to the natural world.
No decisions about water use should ever be made without a full consideration of impacts to the ecosystem.
Second, should be left where it is wherever possible. Nature put water where it belongs. Tampering with nature by removing vast amounts of water from watersheds has the potential to destroy ecosystems. Large-scale water removal and diversion affects not just the immediate system, but ecosystems far beyond, water is not "wasted" by running into the sea. The cumulative effects of removing water from lakes, rivers and streams has disastrous large-scale impacts on the coastal and marine environment as well as on the indigenous peoples of the region, and other people whose livelihoods depend upon these areas.
While there may be an obligation to share water in times of crisis, just as with food, it is not a desirable long-term solution for either the ecosystems or the peoples of any region of the world to become dependent on foreign supplies for this life-giving source. By importing for its basic need, a relationship of dependency would be established that is good for either side. By accepting this principle, we learn the nature of water's limits and to live within them, and we start to look at our own regions, communities and homes for ways to meet our needs while respecting water's place in nature.
To be continued
(December 24, 2003 issue)
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