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- Bolivia Monsanto projects revenues of $420 million and net income of $63 million by 2008 from water resource developments in India and Mexico alone. The Monsanto paper states: We are particularly enthusiastic about the potential of part - nering with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank to joint-venture projects in developing mar - kets. The IFC is eager to work with Monsanto to commer - cialize sustainability opportunities and would bring both investment capital and on the ground capabilities to our efforts. $63 million by 2008 from water resource developments in India As Maude Barlow explains,” in 1998 the World Bank: and Mexico alone. The Monsanto paper states: "...refused to guarantee a US$25-million loan to refinance water We are particularly enthusiastic about the potential of part - services in Cochabamba, Bolivia's third-largest city, unless the nering with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of government sold the public water system to the private sector and the World Bank to joint-venture projects in developing mar - passed on the costs to consumers. Only one bid was considered, kets. The IFC is eager to work with Monsanto to commer - and the utility was turned over to a subsidiary of a conglomerate cialize sustainability opportunities and would bring both led by Bechtel—the giant engineering company implicated in the investment capital and on the ground capabilities to our infamous Three Gorges Dam in China, which has caused the efforts. forced relocation of 1.3 million people. "In January 1999, before it had even hung up its shingle, the THE PERILS OF PRIVATISATION company announced the doubling of water prices. For most According to Maude Barlow,'* author of Blue Gold: The Bolivians, this meant that water would now cost more than food; Global Water Crisis and the Commodification of the World's for those on a minimum wage or unemployed, water bills sudden- Water Supply: "The privatisation of municipal water services has ly accounted for close to half their monthly budgets. To add a terrible record that is well documented. Customer rates are dou- insult, the World Bank granted monopolies to private water con- bled or tripled; corporate profits rise as much as 700 per cent; cor- cessionaires, announced its support for full-cost water pricing, ruption and bribery are rampant; water quality standards drop, pegged the cost of water to the US dollar, and declared that none sometimes dramatically; overuse is promoted to make money; and of its loan could be used to subsidize the poor for water services. customers who can't pay are cut off... When privatisation hits the All water, even from community wells, required permits to Third World, those who can't pay will die." access, and peasants and small farmers even had to buy permits to This brief summary demonstrates the extent of commodifica- gather rainwater on their property." tion so far, and highlights some of the On 10 April 2000, hundreds of thou- failures. sands marched to Cochabamba in an On 10 April 2000, anti-government protest. The gov- Developing World ernment backed down, ordered Programs which transfer existing hundreds of thousands Bechtel out of Bolivia, and revoked government-managed water systems marched to Cochabamba in an its water privatisation legislation. to private firms, financially autonomous utilities and water user anti-government protest. The Developed Nations associations are being implemented - Australia in Latin America (Argentina, government backed down, A report, A Vision for Australia's Colombia, and Mexico); Asia ordered Bechtel out of Water Resources 2025, was prepared (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Fo-fl A for the World Water Forum 2000 by Pakistan, The Philippines and Sri Bolivia, and revoked its water Integrated Resource Management Lanka); Africa (Céte d'Ivoire, privatisation legislation. Ltd under contract from UNESCO. Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, The Australian report recommends Senegal and Tunisia); and Eastern water pricing related to volume and Europe (Hungary). timing, as well as the elimination of In some countries, such as Indonesia, Nepal, The Netherlands subsidies.”! and Sri Lanka, the tradition of farmer-managed water service sys- Australia has already undertaken a program of far-reaching tems is centuries old. changes in the way the water sector is organised and managed, On 10 April 2000, hundreds of thousands anti-government protest. The government backed down, en Oe. ee ee ne The Bolivia, and revoked its water privatisation legislation. o> subsidies.” Australia has already undertaken a program of far-reaching changes in the way the water sector is organised and managed, with an increasing role for the private sector. In 1994, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) declared that "busi- ness as usual" in the rural water industry was not a viable option for irrigators—or the environment.” They are now implementing changes which will affect pricing, water allocations, institutional arrangements and environmental management. These reforms are to be implemented together, as a package, this year. The reform package includes a COAG agreement to introduce full-cost recovery pricing in rural areas by 2001. This means cur- rent prices paid for water are likely to rise. In some cases, prices have escalated already. Many local governments in Australia have made rainwater tanks and recycling of grey water illegal.* - Argentina The state-run water company Obras Sanitarias de la Nacién was sold to Aguas Argentinas, a private company owned by Suez- Lyonnaise des Eaux of France. Aguas Argentinas expanded the water network to 600,000 new residents. Aguas Argentinas has promised to cut prices by 27 per cent and to invest US$4 billion in improving services over a 30-year period. The International Finance Corporation (a subsidiary of the World Bank) provided a $172.5 million loan to Aguas Argentinas in 1994. Some people in the centre of Buenos Aires have benefited from the privatisation, but those outside the capital say water is more expensive and the service has not improved. "On many days there is no water," says Marcelo Paoletti, an activist from an Argentine group called the Ecologist Workshop. He lives in Rosario, the country's second largest city. Paoletti's bills add up to 24 pesos (US$24) a month, more than when the water supply was publicly managed. Aguas Argentinas has also been criticised a number of times by the state regulatory authorities for corporate misconduct and fail- ure to provide acceptable service standards.” Britain Since the privatisation of water services in Britain during the Thatcher Government, prices skyrocketed by up to 450 per cent, averaging an increase of 67 per cent. Thousands of people, unable to pay their bill, had their water service cut. As a result, dysentery increased sixfold, leading the British Medical Association to condemn privatisation because of the related health risks. While the companies are hugely profitable and executive APRIL — MAY 2001 NEXUS + 29 marched to Cochabamba in an "ordered Bechtel out of www.nexusmagazine.com