Referendum on privatisation of Berlin’s water supply

[Hannah Bell]

In a referendum on Sunday over 665,000 Berlin citizens voted in favour of opening the books to disclose details of deals for the partial privatisation of the Berlin Water Works (BWB). This latest referendum was the third such popular vote to be held in Berlin in the past few years. Above all, Sunday’s vote represents a significant blow to the policies of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Left Party, which govern in coalition in the German capital.

The referendum was preceded by a successful petition, in which the Berlin Water Table citizens’ initiative collected within six months more than 320,000 signatures—280,887 of which were valid—in support of its demands. No more than 172,000 signatures were needed for the initiative’s campaign.

In its own words, the Berlin Water Table is a local network of representatives of different groups, initiatives and interested citizens, united under the common theme: “Water belongs to everybody—Access to water is a human right”.

The stated goal of the Berlin Water Table is the repeal and termination of the “immoral sales contracts” underpinning the partial privatisation of the BWB and affording the new co-owners unfettered access to budgetary funds. The population continues to pay the bill, whether through excessive water prices and restricted water supply service, or through the loss of jobs and decreasing social spending due to the public debt. The disclosure of hitherto secret agreements was seen as the first step in this direction, because contracts can only be challenged if their contents have been made public.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/feb2011/priv-f14.shtml