Water. It's one of the most essential things for
providing life on earth. Here in America, drinking water out of tap
safely every day is something we take for granted. Across the world,
there are people who cannot afford or have no access to fresh and
potable drinking water. When we use a measly 8 percent of the total
drinking water on the planet (Private Water Saves Lives), why
do so many people suffer from water-borne illnesses and thirst?
The
answer is not a simple one. Some people source the privatization of
water as a possible and reliable solution tho the world's water
problems. “Superior
competence, better incentives and better access to capital for
investment have allowed private distributors to enhance both the
quality of the water and the scope of its distribution. Millions of
people who lacked water mains within reach are now getting clean and
safe water delivered within a convenient distance.” (Private
Water Saves Lives) Others,
however, say different. One of the most cited arguments against water
privatization is the case of Cochabamba, Bolivia. In 1999,Cochabamba
sold its water to Aguas de Tunari. Soon after, water prices took a
severe jump, as average increase of 50% (From
Water Wars to Water Scarcity: Bolivia's Cautionary Tale).
This led to a huge revolt by the general public, resulting in over
100 injured and one, a seventeen-year-old student named Victor Hugo
Daza, killed. (Bolivia,
the Story)
Shortly after Daza's funeral, the company backed off, and water
prices dropped down. Afterwords, Aguas de Tunari sued the Bolivian
government for loses in future income. Has water privatization
worked well in the past? Will it work in the future? Is it a viable
solution? This blog will do
an in-depth look into the heart of this problem.
Works Cited
Finnegan,
William. "Leasing the Rain." The
New Yorker.
The New Yorker, 08 Apr. 2002. Web. 08 Sept. 2013.
Segerfeldt,
Fredrik. "Private Water Saves Lives." Cato
Institute.
Cato Institute, 25 Aug. 2005. Web. 08 Sept. 2013.
Achtenberg,
Emily. "From Water Wars to Water Scarcity: Bolivia's Cautionary
Tale."ReVista.
Harvard Review of Latin America, Winter 2013. Web. 08 Sept. 2013
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