Donne senza confini

THE TRANSPARENT GOLD

Water is an inestimable resource, fundamental for the life of man. This doesn't seem such an obvious definition since 1,4 million people don't have access to the water; every day 30.000 people die because they use non drinkable water. The illustrated perspectives to the last Word Water Forum held in Florence are not rosy: in the 2020 three million of people they won't have access to the first source of maintenance for the man.

And' possible that our planet is not able to sustain its inhabitants? Unlikely, it is rather the man to have worsened the situation. Last book of Vandana Shiva " water's wars" analyzes the motives for the shortage of this resource in rich zones of water as the Himalaya. The deforestation has made to increase the landslides and the floods excessively making arid territories for long time. In India, in the earth native of Gandhi, water is undrinkable because the fittingses of bauxite extraction have polluted well 22 rivers. This country had a rather rigid legislation in environmental subject but in the last years it is had to fold up to the "demands of market". The foreign capitals pretend "flexibility" and the country "guest" has to suit themselves for the business applications, it doesn't care if the human rights are erased, conditions of job unbearable .
The globalization has undoubtedly had positive aspects but from the point of view of the exploitation of the water resources it has not done anything else other than to worsen the situation. In the Indian subcontinent a lot of agricultural zones are been converted to the cultivation of the eucalyptus because proper for the production of the paper that has a very elevated quotation on the market. It is not considered that the eucalyptus asks for an exorbitant quantity water. The history is equal in Africa, in Asia as in India; the political ones always have to choose among the entry of capitals and therefore to undersell the country or to consider certain non negotiable factors as the human rights, the health and the water. Unfortunately the choice rarely falls around second hypothesis because fresh capitals mean possibility to create a minimum of job in poor countries and to be able to comply to the debts toward the International Monetary Fund or of the World Bank.
Returning to the example of the eucalyptus in India, when it was by now evident that the zone could not physiologically sustain such type of crop, rather than to finance alternative projects, the World Bank has preferred to invest million of dollars for the construction of wells with powerful electric pomps to be able to reach water in depth. After all when the market commands, someone has to answer! Today a lot of strata have been dried up also for guilt of "green revolution". In the years '80 seemed the solution to the hunger in the world promising made miraculous by special seeds that however required quantitative of water double in comparison to the normal seeds.
Factories before effecting an investment complete investigations, they mobilize experienced of sector, they analyze the perspectives in the middle long term to be sure that the investment comes. If the same devotion had been applied in the evaluation of these projects, not from the economic point of view but from that social and environmental, now we won't surely find us under these conditions.
Unfortunately even water escapes from the logic of the market and it is becoming more and more today a source of tempting profit in fact the Monsanto is thinking about investing in this new business.
The concept that is behind the privatization of the water founds him on a very simple economic truth: more it grows the price of a good and more the consumption reduces him. According to the "fundamentalists" of the free market also water cannot escape this axiom and it will allow a more accurate management of it. These theorists perhaps forget him that the good in matter is not an any good, it is a fundamental good for the life of the man.
Water Forum of the water has been organized in concomitance of the other Forum held to Kyoto. The organizers of this alternative Forum have criticized the fact that none of the reunited international community to Kyoto is worried about to recognize the right to the water as a human right. The why very simple is: water means business.
To Plachimada in India, an establishment of the Coke exists it Strains that from 1998 it almost exploits the totality of the available water for the production of the drink but also to polish up the bottles from the chemical trials. The paradox is in the fact that is worthwhile to drink Coke to the local population it Strains rather than water otherwise for a country poor man the 50% of the salary should be used for the water provisioning.
To escape privatizations of the water is difficult when the same World Bank grants financings condition only of privatizations and water cannot refuse from this trial "natural". In the developed countries the water service is often managed by private companies but if we apply the same model in the poorest countries, the situation becomes dramatic.
Privatization doesn't mean automatically good service, rather, the contrary one is shown often. Argentina during the phase of privatizations (wanted by the IMF) it has surrendered the government company Obras Sanitaria (in good financial health) to a consortium managed to a large extent from a subsidiary of the Suez Lyonnais Des Eaux, one of the French colossuses of the business of the water. They have been dismissed a lot of people employed to the controls and the prices suddenly increased creating social tensions.
Obviously not all decide to undergo to these diktats when the repercussions on the society can be so negative. Teofila Lopez, a farmer native Bolivian present to the Forum in Florence, has spoken of its experience, the struggle of the population of Cochabamba in the heart of Bolivia. The script for Bolivia seems the same of the other countries: on application of the IMF this country owed privatize the water service. Once happened this prices are increased of 50% provoking above all popular revolts some farmers that could not produce anymore.



The clashes have been violent with hundreds of corpses but at the end the international consortium (Usa and U.K.) have had to leave the country. Now Bolivia is paying absurd penalties because the project is not taken off. From that moment Cochabamba manages the water in collective way, they have begun to plan the demands of the collectivity exploiting to the best the available resources.
Vandana Shiva affirms that the collective management of the water has also given positive results in the Rajastan where Ithey have been put again standing the old reservoirs for the harvest of the water and the distribution has been planned in capillary way. Successes are small that however they have guaranteed to some communities to make at least tolerable an already complicated life for nature.
Fight against the economic powers is also impossible for the governments. In Mexico an American society, the Metalclad that deals him with disposal of toxic refusals, has had to close because not to norm with the Mexican environmental legislation. According to the accords NAFTA, the firm has been able to make petition and to ask a reimbursement of 17 million dollars to the Mexican government for the missed profit.
Water is not only source of business but it is origin of many conflicts in the world. The control of the water is used for weakening the struggle of palestinian people. To give an example of the inequality are enough to think that the Israelis have available 260 liltres of water per day intestead of 70 of the palestinesis. Turkey is looking for through the construction of dikes, to check and to manage the water resources to damage of the Kurdistan. In India continuous disputes among the various states are followed for the exploitation of the courses of water.
The World Bank has affirmed that the world is separated in lions and gazelles and all they have to become lions to survive. Up to when this mentality the problem of the water will be actual and every day they will die 10 times the victims of September 11 for water lacks.
Up to when can e accept all this?

Federico Bastiani

Vandana Shiva