Firdaus Ibrahim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:From Firdaus Ibrahim Sun Nov 7 16:51:19 2004 To: "BUMN (E-mail)" , "Ekonomi - Nasional (E-mail)" From: Firdaus Ibrahim Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2004 07:51:19 +0700 Subject: [ekonomi-nasional] Rakyat Uruguai menentang privatisasi air Dari Milis tetangga " di uruguay, rakyat memenangkan referendum untuk kedaulatan air. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janneke Bruil, FoEI" To: ; Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2004 5:23 PM Subject: [IFIact] Victory: Resounding 'No' to Water Privatisation > > URUGUAY: > > Referendum Gives Resounding 'No' to the Privatisation of Water > > Raúl Pierri > > MONTEVIDEO, Nov 1 (IPS) - Uruguayan voters not only made a dramatic > shift to the left in the presidential and parliamentary elections > Sunday, but also approved a constitutional reform that defines water > as a public good and guarantees civil society participation at every > level of management of the country's water resources. > > While at least 51 percent of voters elected the country's first > leftist president on Sunday, more than 60 percent came out in favour > of introducing a constitutional clause stating that ”water is a > natural resource essential to life” and that access to piped water > and sanitation services are ”fundamental human rights”. > > The referendum promoted by the National Commission for the Defence of > Water and Life, made up of the trade union representing the employees > of the state-owned water and sewerage company Obras Sanitarias del > Estado (OSE) and several civil society organisations, needed the > support of at least 50 percent of voters to pass. > > Socialist president-elect Tabaré Vázquez, the candidate of the left- > wing Broad Front coalition, was one of the advocates of the > constitutional reform. > > The referendum, which is unique in the world, ”Sets a key precedent > for the protection of water worldwide, by enshrining these principles > into the national constitution of one country by means of direct > democracy”, says a letter by the environmental group Friends of the > Earth International that was signed by 127 organisations from 36 > different countries in support of the Commission. > > The groups underline that the constitutional amendment ”Secures the > protection and sovereignty of this natural resource against attacks > from transnational corporations transcending the national limits of > Uruguay and setting a strong political precedent for the whole > region.” > > Although voters came out in favour of the constitutional amendment, > opinion polls show that a majority are unaware of the scope of the > decision. > > It will be up to the new parliament elected Sunday (in which the > Broad Front will have an absolute majority in both houses) to draft > legislation outlining the mechanisms for implementing the > constitutional reform. > > When that occurs, piped water will be supplied in this South American > country of 3.3 million ”exclusively and directly by state-owned legal > entities”, and concessions to private firms will be cancelled. > > The Spanish companies Uragua and Aguas de la Costa, which have > contracts to supply water in the southeastern department (province) > of Maldonado, will apparently be hit hardest by the reform. > > The proposed cancellation of concessions drew criticism from the > conservative governing Colorado Party, the business community and > sectors of the centre-right National Party, who argued that the > constitutional reform would scare off investment and ”authorise > expropriation, in the style of totalitarian regimes.” > > But both Vázquez and Senator Danilo Astori, the future economy > minister, gave assurances during the campaign that the reform would > not be retroactive, and implied that the Spanish companies would not > be affected. They made an effort to calm the fears of those firms on > a visit to Europe earlier this year. > > Astori admitted that there are conflicting opinions among legal > experts within the Broad Front, and said the questions would be > resolved through new legislation. > > The president-elect, meanwhile, told business leaders during the > campaign that the reform would not affect the foreign companies > already providing water services here. > > ”The legal consultations that we have carried out within our > political grouping establish that the new criteria, if the reform is > approved, will not be applied retroactively for obvious reasons,” > said Vázquez. > > However, ”not only the Uruguayan state will have to live up to the > previously assumed commitments, but the companies as well,” he added. > > But members of the National Commission for the Defence of Water and > Life and of the Broad Front itself said previous contracts with > private companies would be voided by the constitutional amendment. > > ”The debate on retroactivity is misleading,” the Broad Front delegate > to the Commission, Carlos Coitiño, told IPS. ”The concept of > retroactivity has nothing to do with the text of the referendum. Once > the reform is approved, the current concessions will simply be > voided.” > > Jurist Guillermo García Duchini, a co-author of the draft > constitutional reform, commented to IPS that the very contracts > themselves state that the concessions can be suspended by the state > if they go against the public interest. > > And that is the situation here, said the legal expert, because the > reform says that the country's water resources form part of the > public domain, and must thus be administered in such a way that > ”social concerns take precedence over economic interests.” > > If the concessions are cancelled, the firms are to be indemnified. > But they will only receive reimbursement on unamortized investments, > not compensation for lost future earnings. > > The country's water resources are to be managed exclusively by the > state-run OSE, although in some cases city governments could be given > control, said García Duchini. > > In addition, some specific aspects, like maintenance, could be > tendered out, but OSE will not lose control or ”its direct contact > with the public,” he added. > > María Selva Ortiz, a member of the Commission and of the local branch > of Friends of the Earth, Redes-Amigos de la Tierra, told IPS that the > reform will not affect companies that bottle water, soft-drink > manufacturers or tourist establishments that make use of thermal spa > waters. > > These companies are not supplied by OSE, but use their own systems to > extract water from under the ground, or from rivers, springs and > streams, with permission from the Ministry of Transport and Public > Works, and will continue to do so as long as there is no ”over- > exploitation”. > > But ”The concession to Uragua will be suspended due to lack of > compliance with the contract, and the concession to Aguas de la Costa > because it failed to put social concerns before economic interests. > It's true that there is no retroactivity. But approval of the reform > makes the activities of these companies unconstitutional,” said > Ortiz. > > Aguas de la Costa belongs to the Spanish Aguas de Barcelona, which is > in turn an affiliate of Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux. Since the firm began > to operate in the department of Maldonado in 1992, rates have climbed > to seven times the cost of water services in the rest of the country. > > Uragua, which is owned by the Spanish firms Cartera Uno, Ibredola and > Aguas de Bilbao, supplies piped water to Punta del Este and > Piriápolis -- the country's two leading resort towns -- as well as > the city of Maldonado in southeastern Uruguay. > > In January 2002, at the peak of the tourist season in the southern > hemisphere summer, OSE recommended that the people of Maldonado boil > the water distributed by that Spanish firm before drinking it, as > fecal e-coli bacteria had been detected in the water. > > ”The reform guarantees participation by the users and civil society > in the administration of water resources,” Adriana Marquisio, vice- > president of the Federation of OSE Functionaries, told IPS. ”Self- > management projects designed by users in some parts of Uruguay are in > line with the reform.” > > Activists say that in just a few years time, a handful of companies > will control almost 75 percent of all water for human consumption in > the world, as an increasing number of governments privatise water and > sewerage services. > > The biggest firms are the French Vivendi-Générale des Eaux and Suez- > Lyonnaise des Eaux, which control 40 percent of the market and > provide services to some 110 million people in more than 100 > countries. > > The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have actively > encouraged the privatisation of water resources in the developing > South, making privatisation a condition for granting loans, says > Canadian activist Maude Barlow in her new book, ”Blue Gold”. > > ”The concentration of power in the hands of a single corporation and > the inability of governments to reclaim management of water services > allows corporations to impose their interests on government, reducing > the democratic power of citizens,” says Barlow. > > Water privatisation has been loudly opposed in several Latin American > countries, including Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, and transnational > corporations have sometimes been forced to pull out. > > But Uruguay's referendum set a historical precedent not only in the > region, but in the world. 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