The UN water Board in which PSI participates has committed to promote local public utilities as the solution to get people connected. A World Bank representative admits that the focus on privatisation has been wrong.
Read the PSI press release from the World Water Forum: World Water Day - Public Utilities must improve PSI media release On 22 March approximately 10.000 people, mostly children, will die from a lack of clean drinking water. The same is happening every day of the year, largely in poor countries.
World Water Day on 22 March is supposed to focus attention on this global crisis and on measures to resolve it. Said David Boys, Water and Energy officer for PSI, the world's labour union for water workers : “This crisis must be resolved on the ground, not at global conferences. Public utilities are the key actors. Workers in these utilities know the problems and have ideas for the solutions. But they are not being consulted. We must strengthen our public utilities and must involve workers and their unions in these processes.” In 2000 the world's leaders agreed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to halve the number of people without access to drinking water and sanitation by 2015. Many countries, especially the poorest, are not on track to meet these goals.
One major cause for the lack of progress has been the misplaced emphasis by the World Bank, regional development banks and other bilateral donors on the role of the private sector. If the MDGs are to be met, 270.000 persons need to be connected every day. Actually the private water companies have managed to connect only 900 persons per day on average over the last nine years. But in the face of mounting evidence and opposition, there are signs of change in policy.
The key message of Kofi Annan's Advisory Board released at the 4th World Water Forum -WWF4 - in Mexico, is that public utilities must play a central role in providing water and sanitation services to those billions currently unserved. The Board's recommendations reflect a radical change of perspective since the last WWF in Kyoto, which had a strong emphasis on privatisation. The systematic failure of these privatizations, and the consistent opposition to them has created the space for these alternative policies. PSI regards these results as a victory, even though it is keenly aware that a lot of work is ahead if they are to be successfully implemented.
The World Bank is also changing its views. It recognizes that there is no empirical evidence of greater efficiency of the private sector over the public sector. Jamal Saghir head of water and energy of the World Bank admitted that at least 10 to 15 years have been wasted on privatisation policies.
He concedes that the future lies in the public sector and that everyone should concentrate on what needs to be done to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of local public water utilities.
Media Contacts in Mexico. David Boys +33 607 09 26 47 David Boys Utilities and Pensions Officer Public Services International Tel: +33 4 50 40 11 65 mobile: +33 6 07 09 26 47 Fax: +33 4 50 40 73 20 e-mail: [email protected]
PUBLIC SERVICES INTERNATIONAL B.P. 9, 01211 FERNEY-VOLTAIRE CEDEX, FRANCE Tel +33 (0) 4 50 40 64 64 Fax +33 (0) 4 50 40 73 20 E-mail [email protected]
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