Today, there are over a billion people in the world who don’t have access to clean drinking water; more than two billion people lack access to adequate sanitation and about five million people die from preventable, water-borne diseases every year.
Yet ironically, the greater threat to access to clean water and proper sanitation is privatisation of water services by large corporations who are appointed to improve access to such resources.
Many governments and large financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are actively promoting water privatisation as the answer to the water crisis, claiming that it is a more effective way to manage water resources, as placing a price on water encourages water conservation and market competition brings about greater consumer choice and better services. In fact, for many third world nations, privatisation of the country’s water supply is a prerequisite to loans or debt reliefs.
According to statistics, in 2000, at least 12 out of 40 IMF loans were granted on the condition of water privatisation, Often with Directors of the water companies acting as advisors. However, is privatisation truly the remedy to the world’s water woes?
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