Forum: Respect water access as fundamental human right

by Beh Lih Yi     Published 13 Dec 2003    Source : Malaysiakini

The message from the speakers at the "Water, Right to Life" forum in Kuala Lumpur today is clear: "That access to water should not be turned into a market-based commodity but should be assured as a respect to the constitutionally basic right."

The forum, jointly organised by the Bar Council and National Human Rights Society (Hakam) in conjunction with World Human Rights Day (Dec 10), was held in view of the recent water privatisation deals and development projects initiated by the government and which have brought fears about the negative effects on water quality.

Suhakam asked to intervene in water privatisation move

Published 8 Dec 2003   Source : Malaysiakini

Several consumer groups and community-based organisations today submitted a memorandum to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), stating concern over plans to privatise the management of water resources and sanitation services.

Led by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations and ERA Consumer, the group of 17 associations claimed that the government's decision would breach a fundamental human right.

The memorandum was submitted as part of the group's efforts to promote and defend 'Water as a Human Right'.

European Water Corporations and the Privatization of Asian Water Resources

Source : Transnational Institute, 1 Sept 2002

Author : Charles Santiago, Monitoring Sustainability of Globalisation, Malaysia

Introduction

Water Security will be the divisive issue of the 21st Century. Water corporations, together with multilateral agencies, are transforming scarce water resources into a profitable commodity. Given the acute state of the water crisis, there is a fear that if water corporations take control of this essential and scarce resource, more people will go without and there will be a loss of livelihood. It is an irony that water corporation are making huge profits in the context of water scarcity. Companies view scarcity of resources and environmental degradation as an investment and business opportunity. The Asian poor - indigenous communities, farmers, women and the urban poor - face the negative impact of water privatization. Indigenous communities are displaced from their ancestral lands when dams are built; farmers' yields decrease and their livelihood threatened as a result of water corporations' indiscriminate mining of ground water; women have to walk kilometers to get water and return in time to get to work and some continue to depend on contaminated water leading to dysentery and other health problems; rural water wells are unfit for drinking, cooking and bathing as a result of contamination or have dried-up as a result of excessive extraction of water. The poor state of the Asian water supply system is being exploited by water corporations.