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midastouch017

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midastouch017

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Thursday, 12/15/2005 6:06:23 AM

Thursday, December 15, 2005 6:06:23 AM

Post# of 2273
Nor real Gold, interesting nevertheless,

Worth its weight in blue gold
15.12.05 | 11:03 By Nimrod Halpern
One day before the Nobel Prize for economics was granted to Prof. Israel (Robert) Aumann for his work on game theory, water rights activists Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke were awarded the 2005 Right Livelihood Awards, also known as the "Alternative Nobel".

The so-called alternative Nobel is no less prestigious than the original: the prizes are presented at a Swedish parliament ceremony. But while games theory involves complex analysis of the competition, the world water problem does not. The problem is glaringly simple

Simply, 1.1 billion people in the world have no access to clean potable water. Every eight seconds a child dies from disease caused by foul water. According to UN data, two-thirds of the world population will suffer water shortage within 20 years, double the growth rate of the population. By the year 2025, demand for water will exceed supply by 56%.

War is raging already

No need for game theory: war is already raging at several points around the world over water sources. From the Middle East to northern China to California and wide areas of Africa, the shortage is becoming more and more acute.

The burgeoning demand for "blue gold" has not escaped the notice of the global water cartel, which is controlled by three European companies: Vivendi-Universal, Suez, and RWE. Nor has the earnings potential inherent in the fact that only 5% of the world water services are in private hands.

Back in 2002, profits from the world water industry reached a trillion dollars, which was 40% of the profit from oil that year and more than the profit from the drugs industry. Wasteful irrigation methods, rising water demand by industry, and damage to the hydrologic cycle (which replenishes water supplies) because of urbanization, pollution and climatic changes assure that the crisis will become more and more acute, and that profits will continue to soar.

Bechtel raises the ante

But the privatization of water services, led by a handful of multinationals supported by the World Bank and the IMF, has proven to be unwise. At least for the thirsty, that is. Experience in a number of developing nations has proven that the private sector does not have the tools to supply clean water arrangement equal prices to all.

For instance, in 1998, the Bolivian government was forced to privatize water services in Cochabamba, after the World Bank threatened not to guarantee a $25 million loan to improve water infrastructure in the city. The U.S. company Bechtel took over the water utility and raised prices. By a lot.

Thousands of Cochabamba residents took to the streets and a general strike was called. Mass arrests and the deaths of demonstrators did not cow the people; finally Bechtel pulled up its stakes and abandoned Bolivia, and the water service was renationalized.

In Uruguay, as water privatization threatened, community activists went from door to door throughout three years, collecting enough signatures to push through a constitutional amendment that would make access to water a basic right. In October 2004 a referendum was held and the amendment passed by a majority of 63%. Similar struggles against water privatization took place in India, Brazil, the Philippines and Canada.

Proponents of privatized water say it is a commodity like any other commodity and the market should be free to set the price. There is a reason the world Bank defined it as a commodity, they argue, and that NAFTA calls it an investment.

No mistake could be greater. Water is the font of life on earth. Nothing can survive without it. Therefore, it belongs to everybody - to humans, to plants and to animals. It is a precious resource worth more than gold that must be distributed to all. A handful of greedy corporations cannot be allowed to exploit it for the sake of filthy lucre.



http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ArticleContent.jhtml?itemNo=658384

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