tom_thinks
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Privatized Water? 'Thirst' on P.O.V.
A new documentary by Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow called Thirst deals with a frightening phenomenon; water privatization.
Water is essential to life. We cannot live without it and when its in the hands of global corporations, we'll have to whatever price they demand. Check back for a review of this documentary after it premieres.
Obviously I haven't seen this yet; it premieres on July 13TH on P.O.V., check your local PBS listings, but I highly recommend watching it.
AlterNet: EnviroHealth: The New Blue Gold: "In point of fact, American cities and towns are the new staging ground for rapid and strategic power plays over who controls water supply. In 2004, 85% of U.S. municipal water systems are publicly owned, with a shocking 15% already in the hands of corporations. Unbeknownst to most residents, municipal governments are being heavily courted in the here and now to turn over control of their water supply to multinational companies like Suez Water, whose U.S. subsidiary took control of Atlanta's water in 1999.
As captured in Thirst, John Briscoe, the Senior Water Advisor to The World Bank, puts it this way to an assembly at the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan.
"What does it mean to say that water is a human right?" he asks." Those who proclaim it so would say that it is the obligation of [governments] to provide free water to everybody. Well, that's a fantasy."
Water is essential to life. We cannot live without it and when its in the hands of global corporations, we'll have to whatever price they demand. Check back for a review of this documentary after it premieres.
posted by Tom, 6/23/2004 11:02:00 AM
