Water Crisis and Alternatives to Privatization
Added on 2020-03-16
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Running head: RECOMMENDATION: WHAT SHOULD BE DONE NEXT INCOCHABAMBA 1Recommendation: What Should Be Done Next In CochabambaNameInstitution
RECOMMENDATION: WHAT SHOULD BE DONE NEXT IN COCHABAMBA 2Recommendation: What Should Be Done Next In CochabambaThe case of Cochabamba might denote a victory in minds of the local individuals,however, from the viewpoint of the outsider, it appears like a slight hollow victory, and 1 whichwas accomplished at a huge cost (Shiva, 2016). The areas that require recommendation andconsideration will be highlighted in this paper on question-based format. The question one mustraise is what was really accomplished via the protest, apart from ideological victory. Who werethe beneficiaries as a consequent of SEMAPA re-nationalization, and who has agonized? Willthe novel board be capable to undertake the better management of the municipal water, grow thesystem as well as decrease the widespread inequalities? Were, further protest essentialconsidering rates on water had be reverted by February? Was the seventeen-year old boy’s deathjustifiable price to pay for winning water wars? Provided that a great portion of conflict seems to have emerged from inadequateconsultation, a critical question is how governments might, corporations together withinternational financial institutions alter their policies to effectively accommodate the wishes ofeach stakeholder? Howe might the Cochabamba story be evaded in the coming years?Furthermore, what degree of responsibility do such parties bear for what took place inCochabamba? Is AdT entitled to compensation from community which could not afford topurchase their water? Should government of Bolivia pay reparations for burdening municipalitywith Misicuni project? Do the Cochabamba citizens, having propelled out multinationals, stilldeserve support? Finally, should the IMF and World Bank be held accountable for falloutresulting from their prescribed policies? The Cochabamba case, in a more general manner, further raises fundamental queries ofprivatization of necessary (basic) services. Water has been declared by La Coordinadora’s
RECOMMENDATION: WHAT SHOULD BE DONE NEXT IN COCHABAMBA 3statement (Cochabamba Declaration) as a fundamental human right and the public trust has to beguarded by each level of government following dispute with AdT. Thus, it water must never becommodified, privatized or even traded for commercial purposes. Water must stay a commongood, and needs to be managed by the community. Water has also been enshrined by UNcommittee on Economic, Culture and Social Rights as a basic human right. The critical query iswho shall pay for water? Moreover, if there is lack of adequate water to go around, how willwater be distributed? And where the community management ever collapses, who will take overthe responsibility? Privatization is absolutely never the sole alternative, and unquestionably never the bestoption in each case. However, where water is never privatized, how can SEMAPAs of the worldenhance their services? Most significantly, should water consumers’ be compelled to pay fullcost of water services? Do subsidies adopted merely dissuade conservation, or are they essentialto accomplish the equitable system? Conversely, where delivery of water is privatized, how canthe management of interests of community alongside corporation be done? Is efficiency themajor objective or is equitability more significant in delivering something as fundamental to lifeas water? How can corporation remain accountable to citizens, and how can community evertrust corporations? Where private water firms do offer a valuable service, what degree of profitshould companies be entitled to as their reward? Naturally getting answers to the above questions forms the recommendations though theyare no easy responses. Cochabamba is a typical case of supreme significance of consultation aswell as engagement of each stakeholder, however, it leaves service’ privatization as an openquestion (Assies, 2003). Many have argued that only time shall tell whether the Cochabamba’s
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