Water as Basic Human Right Has a Market Price, Says U.N. Chief

[woo me with science]

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56736

Water as Basic Human Right Has a Market Price, Says U.N. Chief
By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 3, 2011 (IPS) - As the 193-member General Assembly commemorates the first anniversary of its landmark resolution pronouncing water and sanitation to be a basic human right, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon triggered a political controversy last week when he implicitly declared that even human rights have a market price.

"Let us be clear," he asserted, "a right to water and sanitation does not mean that water should be free."
....
But what if member states transfer their obligations to the private sector, known to extract a heavy price - even from those who cannot afford to pay in the world's poorer nations? ....

But the reality is far different from the platitudes of the secretary-general, says a new report released by Food and Water Watch.

According to the study, private operations can create obstacles to the human right to affordable and accessible water and sanitation services.

In Guayaquil, Ecuador, water prices increased by 180 percent after the water system was taken over by Interagua, a subsidiary of Bechtel.

....(more at link)