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Private Water for Sale — Except Public won’t buy it
Publication date:
Business day Live - Water is an essential natural element, but around the world, it’s also an artificially endangered resource. That would explain why the parties represented at a recent international conference on water rights in Lagos ranged from remote towns with hand-pumped wells to modern public utilities in European cities. Precisely because water is universally in demand, it faces boundless threats of exploitation, in countries rich and poor.
A communiqué issued at the summit by representatives of various nongovernmental organisations including the union federation Public Services International, TransNational Institute and African Women Water Network, outlined principles for opposing privatisation that focused on Nigeria’s dysfunctional water management politics, but also spoke to a growing global consensus around water as both a human right and a public entitlement.