Arroyo Risks Further Isolation with
Maynilad Reprivatization - WPN
President Gloria Arroyo,
who has yet to overcome the worst political crisis of her regime, is
risking further isolation from the people if she would allow the planned
reprivatization of the Maynilad Water Services Inc.
By
Arnold
Padilla
Posted by Bulatlat
President Gloria
Arroyo, who has yet to overcome the worst political crisis of her regime,
is risking further isolation from the people if she would allow the
planned reprivatization of the Maynilad Water Services Inc. The Water for
the People Network (WPN) issued the statement as residents from Maynilad
areas trooped to the main office of the water firm where it is holding its
annual stockholders' meeting.
AGAINST WATER
PRIVATIZATION: Activists in a community dialogue on water rates
increases |
The WPN questioned
the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System's (MWSS) plan to
reprivatize Maynilad Water Services Inc. as the move would further burden
the ordinary consumers, who are still reeling from last year's record high
oil prices and inflation, of miserable service and exorbitant water rates.
Citing the poor track
record of Lopez-owned Benpres and French company Suez as Maynilad
operators, the network said that it is very absurd that the MWSS would
want to again entrust the provision of water supply and sanitation in the
west zone of Metro Manila to profit-oriented private business. Aside from
hiking its all-in tariff (basic rate plus other charges) by 345% since
1997, three out of every 10 people in Maynilad areas are still without
water supply while in areas that are connected to the Maynilad system,
water is unavailable for three to four hours daily.
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Government
representatives will take over six of the 12 seats in Maynilad's board of
directors in its stockholders' meeting today. The interim board will
supervise the reprivatization of Maynilad, which became 84% owned by the
MWSS and 16% by Suez after a Quezon City court approved its corporate
rehabilitation last year.
Residents from Bagong
Barrio, Caloocan City under the Alyansa Sigaw Tubig (Cry for Water
Alliance or AST), a WPN member, held a protest rally in front of the
Maynilad office to denounce the rate hike that would increase their
monthly bill by as much as P56 starting today. According to the WPN, the
rate hike is intended to make the reprivatization of Maynilad, which the
MWSS hopes to complete within the first semester of the year, attractive
to potential investors. This is unacceptable for some 100,000 residents in
16 barangays of Bagong Barrio, many of whom are forced to pay the minimum
monthly bill to Maynilad even if there is no water coming out from their
taps.
The WPN noted that
Arroyo has already mishandled the Maynilad fiasco when she allowed Benpres
to get out of its contract with the MWSS without paying a centavo of its
financial obligations with the government. The Maynilad bailout is
Arroyo's guarantee that Vice President Noli de Castro, a former stalwart
in the Lopez-owned ABS-CBN media network, would not switch sides amid the
growing clamor for her to step down.
Instead of
reprivatization, the WPN reiterated its call for full and effective
government control of Maynilad and the complete reversal of the MWSS
privatization. Posted by Bulatlat
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