The draft Water Services Industry (WSI) Bill, in its present form,
risks signing away Malaysia's sovereignty by laying itself at the mercy
of global water barons, an economist warned.
Coalition Against Water Privatisation (CAWP) co-ordinator Charles
Santiago said the European Union has already asked Malaysia to open up
its water sector under the General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS).
"This is a fact. Water is definitely on the table for GATS as confirmed by sources in Geneva who are monitoring globalisation trends," he said at a press briefing in Petaling Jaya yesterday.
"This is because water is a very profitable business in Malaysia. Furthermore, the local sector is expected to see an estimated RM100 billion investment or more in the years to come."
The three world giants are RWE/Thames Water (UK) and French-based Vivendi and Suez.
Santiago said that through the draft WSI, Malaysia was making it easier for foreigners to enter and take over the water sector.
"Once GATS kicks in, there are no restrictions to trade. Parliament, or the water laws in this case, will become redundant.
"This is because the licencing of water supply will violate Malaysia's commitments to provide market access and national treatment, thus in violation of GATS.
"Only one thing can stop Malaysia from losing its sovereignty in this way and that is to retain water management under government authority, where GATS will not be applicable."
To achieve this, said Santiago, the word "person" in the WSI must be defined to mean a state/government party or public entity, and not a company.
He warned the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry to be very careful with the bills.
Clueless on GATS
At one of the coalitions meetings in Putrajaya, Santiago said he was horrified to discover the level of ignorance about GATS among the senior officials.
"Sensing the confusion during our explanation on GATS and its implications on the water sector if amendments are not made to the water Bills, we asked if they had heard of GATS.
"To our shock, a couple of them said they had never heard of it while a third senior official said that Miti (International Trade and Industry Ministry) would have informed them of such a thing."
Similarly, he said, barely a few members of Parliament knew about GATS and some thought it was an NGO propaganda.
On April 10, the WSI and National Water Commission (SPAN) Bills were
tabled for first reading in Parliament with only three minor changes out
of the 350 recommendations from the 80 public consultations the
ministry claimed to have conducted over five months.
Global Environment Centre director Faizal Parish highlighted the absence of sufficient checks and balances to prevent a catastrophic environmental disaster.
"Recent incidents of water contamination due to leachate and ammonia emissions in the water supply show that we're all vulnerable.
"It also proves that current laws are insufficient to prevent a recurrence, having experience repeated shutdown of several water treatment plants."
He said the policy objective were initially included in the WSI but were later relegated to footnotes and explanatory notes upon the Attorney-General's advice.
"I don't know why that happened. We need a regulatory framework and enforcement to prevent inconveniences and disasters.
"My fear is that one day, water at the intake points will be simply too contaminated to treat.
'Ancient' system
By choosing the world's "cheapest and simplest" water treatment system , he said, Malaysia is now unable to remove toxins and other contaminants such as heavy metals.
"There is no system in place to remove toxins and pollutants in any of the treatment plants which are mainly designed to remove sediments by adding certain chemicals.
"The last five years have seen many shutdown of treatment plants in Selangor due to excessive silt in rivers," he said, adding that existing systems were over 80 years old.
"The (WSI) does not provide for more sophisticated or upgrades of treatment systems."
Faizal said the draft law also mentions nothing about demand management which is an important component in the overall water management blueprint in many other countries.
"This bill is reactive where the water company is exempted from its obligation to supply water during a water crisis. This is why the language used in the bill is very important.
'There is no built-in requirement for water companies to manage demand and initiate a conservation programme as was successfully introduced by Mexico 15 years ago."
In Malaysia, he said, the federal government had undertaken the financial burden by using taxpayers money.
He said no government agency had proposed a demand management in the last two Malaysia Plans.
"At least 10 percent of what is allocated for water infrastructure in the five-year plans should be set aside for demand management," added Faizal.
Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, in giving the labour perspective, said the bills' in effect privatised water and costs more than money.
"Workers, as the largest consumers, will lose jobs once outsourcing comes in. If the WSI is not stopped now, it will only spell bad times ahead and the MTUC will continue to oppose the bills.
"If the government can scrap the multi-million ringgit crooked bridge project, I don't see why this cannot be stopped in the interest of the 11.1 million workforce and their families."
Unprotected consumers
Monitoring Sustainability of Globalisation programme manager Greg Lopez said consumers had no protection at all under the water bills.
"We have no redress except to go to court when there can be a built-in mechanism to handle consumer complaints and compensation.
"The minister is also granted very wide powers including a discretion to decide the standard of water quality when the health ministry already has one which is higher than international standards."
This raises the issue of two standards, compliance and legal obligations of water companies.
Lopez said the Water Forum proposed in the bill should be exclusively for consumers or it would become an industry-controlled body similar to the Multimedia Commission dominated by telecommunication giants.
"Consumers have been disadvantaged right from the start, for instance, by giving a choice to the water commission to develop consumer protection standards instead of a mandatory requirement."
Coalition Against Water Privatisation (CAWP) co-ordinator Charles
Santiago said the European Union has already asked Malaysia to open up
its water sector under the General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS)."This is a fact. Water is definitely on the table for GATS as confirmed by sources in Geneva who are monitoring globalisation trends," he said at a press briefing in Petaling Jaya yesterday.
"This is because water is a very profitable business in Malaysia. Furthermore, the local sector is expected to see an estimated RM100 billion investment or more in the years to come."
The three world giants are RWE/Thames Water (UK) and French-based Vivendi and Suez.
Santiago said that through the draft WSI, Malaysia was making it easier for foreigners to enter and take over the water sector.
"Once GATS kicks in, there are no restrictions to trade. Parliament, or the water laws in this case, will become redundant.
"This is because the licencing of water supply will violate Malaysia's commitments to provide market access and national treatment, thus in violation of GATS.
"Only one thing can stop Malaysia from losing its sovereignty in this way and that is to retain water management under government authority, where GATS will not be applicable."
To achieve this, said Santiago, the word "person" in the WSI must be defined to mean a state/government party or public entity, and not a company.
He warned the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry to be very careful with the bills.
Clueless on GATS
At one of the coalitions meetings in Putrajaya, Santiago said he was horrified to discover the level of ignorance about GATS among the senior officials.
"Sensing the confusion during our explanation on GATS and its implications on the water sector if amendments are not made to the water Bills, we asked if they had heard of GATS.
"To our shock, a couple of them said they had never heard of it while a third senior official said that Miti (International Trade and Industry Ministry) would have informed them of such a thing."
Similarly, he said, barely a few members of Parliament knew about GATS and some thought it was an NGO propaganda.
On April 10, the WSI and National Water Commission (SPAN) Bills were
tabled for first reading in Parliament with only three minor changes out
of the 350 recommendations from the 80 public consultations the
ministry claimed to have conducted over five months.Global Environment Centre director Faizal Parish highlighted the absence of sufficient checks and balances to prevent a catastrophic environmental disaster.
"Recent incidents of water contamination due to leachate and ammonia emissions in the water supply show that we're all vulnerable.
"It also proves that current laws are insufficient to prevent a recurrence, having experience repeated shutdown of several water treatment plants."
He said the policy objective were initially included in the WSI but were later relegated to footnotes and explanatory notes upon the Attorney-General's advice.
"I don't know why that happened. We need a regulatory framework and enforcement to prevent inconveniences and disasters.
"My fear is that one day, water at the intake points will be simply too contaminated to treat.
'Ancient' system
By choosing the world's "cheapest and simplest" water treatment system , he said, Malaysia is now unable to remove toxins and other contaminants such as heavy metals.
"There is no system in place to remove toxins and pollutants in any of the treatment plants which are mainly designed to remove sediments by adding certain chemicals.
"The last five years have seen many shutdown of treatment plants in Selangor due to excessive silt in rivers," he said, adding that existing systems were over 80 years old.
"The (WSI) does not provide for more sophisticated or upgrades of treatment systems."
Faizal said the draft law also mentions nothing about demand management which is an important component in the overall water management blueprint in many other countries.
"This bill is reactive where the water company is exempted from its obligation to supply water during a water crisis. This is why the language used in the bill is very important.
'There is no built-in requirement for water companies to manage demand and initiate a conservation programme as was successfully introduced by Mexico 15 years ago."
In Malaysia, he said, the federal government had undertaken the financial burden by using taxpayers money.
He said no government agency had proposed a demand management in the last two Malaysia Plans.
"At least 10 percent of what is allocated for water infrastructure in the five-year plans should be set aside for demand management," added Faizal.
Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, in giving the labour perspective, said the bills' in effect privatised water and costs more than money.
"Workers, as the largest consumers, will lose jobs once outsourcing comes in. If the WSI is not stopped now, it will only spell bad times ahead and the MTUC will continue to oppose the bills.
"If the government can scrap the multi-million ringgit crooked bridge project, I don't see why this cannot be stopped in the interest of the 11.1 million workforce and their families."
Unprotected consumers
Monitoring Sustainability of Globalisation programme manager Greg Lopez said consumers had no protection at all under the water bills.
"We have no redress except to go to court when there can be a built-in mechanism to handle consumer complaints and compensation.
"The minister is also granted very wide powers including a discretion to decide the standard of water quality when the health ministry already has one which is higher than international standards."
This raises the issue of two standards, compliance and legal obligations of water companies.
Lopez said the Water Forum proposed in the bill should be exclusively for consumers or it would become an industry-controlled body similar to the Multimedia Commission dominated by telecommunication giants.
"Consumers have been disadvantaged right from the start, for instance, by giving a choice to the water commission to develop consumer protection standards instead of a mandatory requirement."
Also present were Section 5 Residents Association chairperson Edward
Lee and Petaling Jaya Selatan Residents Society president Mohamed Umar
Peer Mohamad.
"Why lump water and sewerage together under one law when both come under different companies," asked Lee.
"The government assumes that consumers or the public have no say in decisions it makes pertaining to globalisation. But we're trying to limit the potential damage to ourselves."
CAWP is a civil society movement of about 25 active members comprising various NGOs, environmental groups, trade and labour unions, consumer associations, religious bodies, residents associations, human rights bodies and concerned individuals.
"Why lump water and sewerage together under one law when both come under different companies," asked Lee.
"The government assumes that consumers or the public have no say in decisions it makes pertaining to globalisation. But we're trying to limit the potential damage to ourselves."
CAWP is a civil society movement of about 25 active members comprising various NGOs, environmental groups, trade and labour unions, consumer associations, religious bodies, residents associations, human rights bodies and concerned individuals.
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