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“This ecological representation of water as a common good explains why the creation of the ‘water business’ and the commercial logic of ‘public-private partnerships’ is so unacceptable. This commercially based logic, over and above preaching democratisation and good governance, involves predatory appropriation of wealth that belongs to others by the private sector; this is carried out through privatisations that have actually been totally discredited in Africa since the 1980s.
This logic is implemented by the private multinationals of the water sector and their allies (World Bank, IMF and the elite of African leaders). They do so by classical forms of privatisation (joint management, concessions, delegation of management), as well as so-called innovative practice (participation of the private sector, partnerships between water operators, prepaid metres, water heritage companies etc). The logic is one of domination and it excludes political participation of citizens and users. In Mali, these users have discreetly been transformed into a GIE (Economic Interest Group). (Translator’s note: A legally recognised French form of business consortium) and educated according to the management gospel of the water multinationals, according to which one is supposed to ‘make water pay for itself’. This implies that water is sold, commoditised, considered in the same way as oil. Citizens are encouraged to forget their rights and obligations as political subjects responsible for defining their own future. They are led instead to believe that this responsibility lies in the hands of the commercially minded technocracy.
The United Nations declared 2008 as the international year of rights to water and sanitation. On 28 July 2010 they adopted a resolution that declared the right to water and sanitation as a fundamental human right. In order to avoid this being mere lip service, citizens need to take renewed control of their political responsibilities. Water needs to be removed from the WTO GATS framework (General Agreement on Trade and Services).”
Read more: allAfrica.com
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