Salmon Arm Water Group Makes Presentation
A presentation was made to Salmon Arm Municipal Council urging caution against private / public partnerships when dealing with their water utility. An exerpt from the article in the Salmon Arm Observer follows:
"....Ray Morris, speaking on behalf of Kairos, a national coalition of churches and religious organizations that includes local members of the Anglican, Lutheran, Roman Catholic and United churches, brought this message to Salmon Arm council's Nov. 14 meeting. Joining him was Kairos co-chair Mavourneen Reddecliff and spokesperson for the Catholic organization Development & Peace, Teresa McKerral.
Morris urged council to endorse a water declaration that has been supported by 185 Canadian municipalities.
It states: 1) Water is a sacred gift that connects all life; 2) Access to clean water is a basic human right; 3) The value of the Earth's fresh water to the common good takes priority over any possible commercial value; and 4) Fresh water is a shared legacy, a public trust and a collective responsibility.
He noted that the World Bank has usually made privatization a condition of its loans for water services, with strongly negative effects on local populations.
In Canada, he said the most dramatic example of privatization took place in Hamilton, Ont. In 1995, when city council turned its waterworks and sewage treatment operations over to a respected local waste management company. Within a year, half the city's water workers were laid off, he said. The following January, a huge sewage spill flooded 115 homes and businesses and sent 48 million gallons of untreated human waste into the harbour and then into Lake Ontario.
"Ownership of the water company changed hands five times in the first eight years," Morris stated, "and the city is understandably eager to get out of the 20-year contract it signed."
Morris spoke of several other national and international examples.
Morris asked that, at a time when Salmon Arm is going to upgrade its water treatment facilities, "we would urge you very strongly not to consider any form of public-private partnership as a way of raising the necessary capital or keeping the running expenses under control." ...."
Read the full article here...
"....Ray Morris, speaking on behalf of Kairos, a national coalition of churches and religious organizations that includes local members of the Anglican, Lutheran, Roman Catholic and United churches, brought this message to Salmon Arm council's Nov. 14 meeting. Joining him was Kairos co-chair Mavourneen Reddecliff and spokesperson for the Catholic organization Development & Peace, Teresa McKerral.
Morris urged council to endorse a water declaration that has been supported by 185 Canadian municipalities.
It states: 1) Water is a sacred gift that connects all life; 2) Access to clean water is a basic human right; 3) The value of the Earth's fresh water to the common good takes priority over any possible commercial value; and 4) Fresh water is a shared legacy, a public trust and a collective responsibility.
He noted that the World Bank has usually made privatization a condition of its loans for water services, with strongly negative effects on local populations.
In Canada, he said the most dramatic example of privatization took place in Hamilton, Ont. In 1995, when city council turned its waterworks and sewage treatment operations over to a respected local waste management company. Within a year, half the city's water workers were laid off, he said. The following January, a huge sewage spill flooded 115 homes and businesses and sent 48 million gallons of untreated human waste into the harbour and then into Lake Ontario.
"Ownership of the water company changed hands five times in the first eight years," Morris stated, "and the city is understandably eager to get out of the 20-year contract it signed."
Morris spoke of several other national and international examples.
Morris asked that, at a time when Salmon Arm is going to upgrade its water treatment facilities, "we would urge you very strongly not to consider any form of public-private partnership as a way of raising the necessary capital or keeping the running expenses under control." ...."
Read the full article here...
posted by Amie at
11/30/2006 09:59:00 AM
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