The Rajpal Abeynayake Column

The Rajpal Abeynayake Column By Rajpal Abeynayake

Hats off to Ranil on the water Bill (..and why he is right)
It was reported last week that the Prime Minister had scuttled moves by a certain subject Minister to introduce a Water Management Bill. He told the Minister "do not dance to the tune of the World Bank; do not take everything they dish out.'' Last Sunday's Times described this as "a very admirable move'' which will 'go down in history.'' Most readers will probably guess why it was described as a 'very admirable move'' which needs to be applauded unreservedly.

But, it is not out of place to call for special applause for such a move. Whatever his reasons, the Prime Minister's move shows courage and defiance of a top order. Why so? Well, consider some of the following reasons: The Prime Minister has in fact scuttled a very insidious move that has World Bank sponsorship. In Bolivia, for example, the World Bank forced the sale of the nation's public water systems. The new Anglo American owners of the water system followed World Bank orders, and hiked water prices from 35 to 150 per cent.

A general strike followed and the government reacted with brutal suppression. But this only caused the unrest to spread. Things became so bad that after 13 days, the Bolivian President had no alternative but to take back the water companies from the American and British operators.

A World Bank document of fairly recent origin states that the aim of the Bank is a transfer by contract of all water jurisdiction by governments to Private Corporations and "User Associations." These corporations and user associations will of course be mandated to meet all World Bank regulations and prohibitions.

Basically, the World Bank implements this policy on (the dubious) World Water Commission recommendations. This World Water Commission report, calls for the full liberalization and deregulation of the water sector; 'national treatment' whereby transnational corporations should be given the same treatment as local enterprises and/or public authorities; transparency in government, procurement of water contracts etc., In other words, what it means is that traditional practices of water usage be abandoned, and water be commodified, and sold "in the market'' by private companies!

"Today, companies like France's Suez are rushing to privatize water, already a $400 billion global business. They are betting that H2O will be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th," says Fortune Magazine in a recent article. Bolivia was a test case for this 'water privatization.'' A San Francisco based company Betchel was given the rights to water in Bolivia, and soon Betchel was raising the water price. What the company didn't expect was the mass protests to follow. In the face of these protests, Betchel was forced to re-negotiate the contract.

What the World Bank seeks to do with its 'water privatization'' vision is simply so outrageous that it is straight out of Ripley's Believe it or Not. In exchange for World Bank loans, governments are required by the World Bank to implement their water management policy, and proceed to privatize. Then, with World Bank encouragement, the multi national water companies proceed to raise the price of water to which people hitherto had simple access through community wells or community water taps courtesy the municipal water supply. Why is the water price raised? The rationale can be stunning.

It is said that raising prices will reduce water consumption! "The World Bank is at the top of the pyramid as the Lord and Master dictating how the water will be used through "Demand Management." Demand Management consists of:1. Price-based incentives to enforce low water usage. (How's that for a fancy way to say raise the price to whatever level it takes to achieve the World Bank goals.) 2. Water Rationing. 3. Water restrictions on specific usage. (Determined by the World Bank of course).'' (The quote is taken form a recent document issued by VoxPop.)

In effect, shorn of all the fancy literature, what's really happening is old fashioned robber baron colonialism. Anybody with a cursory acquaintance with the history of this country will know that the British imposed massive land taxes, that drove peasants to starvation. The paddy farmer was coerced into giving almost the entirety of his crop to the taxman. There was no rationale for these taxes - there was nothing the colonial master was giving in return for these taxes. Shorn of obfuscation - it was a case of the cultivator being robbed of his produce to the point of starvation, with a gun at his head.

It's much the same with the World Bank water management schemes. (Replace 'loan' for gun.) There is no need for water to be 'managed', to be given over to private ownership - and to be taxed. The only 'need' is for the World Bank, which seeks to enrich wealthy multi national companies in the West in pursuance of its neo-liberal economic strategies. It is just old fashioned robber baron colonialism in new bottles.

But, you will not find the gaseous Radhika Coomaraswamys and the so called 'civil society darlings'' coming out against these robber baron policies of the World Bank. "Civil society" is part of the same nexus. They are like the local 'taxmen'' who collaborated with the British colonial masters to collect the paddy tax. In this backdrop, the Prime Minister's move to scuttle the Water Management Bill deserves a salute. This time the World Bank was not lucky. There was a leader who had the courage to say 'get lost with your devious schemes' to the World Bank's conmen.

But this will not always be the case. The World Bank will keep trying. Since the Bolivian failure, the World Bank has been getting more devious. 'However, with the ideological and political backing of the world's governments, politicians, and institutions such as the World Bank and the UN behind them, corporations may now find things have just become easier (…to privatize water resources.)’
(Corporate Europe Observer).

When it was said in this column during the last election that the US government is seeking the re-election of the People's Alliance, there were a few raised eyebrows. This is still correct - because in the PA the World Bank and the US found an easier collaborator in implementing the skewed schemes of the World Bank. Now, the proof of the pudding is in the eating - Ranil Wickremesinghe has stalled (at least some of the more insidious) World Bank designs, and so, those who scoffed at the idea that the US and its World Bank type cohorts backed the re-election of the PA, would probably realize why this cabal wanted the PA instead of the UNF. (One reason also that made things easier for the World Bank was that the PA mismanaged the economy, making it easier for the World Bank to get the government to follow its dictates, which delivered the resources of countries such as ours at the doorstep of US companies such as Betchel.)

When World Bank potentates in Colombo met 'civil society stakeholders' such as the press a few years back, they met some of us too. At one point, the World Bank representative here asked 'what's keeping the Sri Lankan economy down and the people poor?'' This writer replied 'if you need to find out - look in the mirror.''

The World Bank is not in the business of social engineering and poverty alleviation. The World Bank is in the business of enriching (mainly American) multi national companies. If you need more evidence, write to me at this newspaper address. This is why this writer raised the issue of water privatization at a Law and Society Trust seminar a couple of years back. Believe it or not, the question was not allowed (amidst nodding heads of some World Bank female collaborators) because the session Chairman, Manohan Nanayakkara, said the question was 'controversial." (!!)

When Bolivians rose up in protest against water privatization, the coverage was blotted out, and a bold newspaper Editor who insisted on continued coverage had to resign. World Bank Chairman Wolfenson made a statement to the effect that 'the drug cartels are behind the protests against the water Bill.'' Journalists who write against the World Bank similarly buck the trend. They can expect persecution, and not awards. But be warned -- the World Bank will never tire of privatizing water resources, even though this time they have been tripped up by one hell of an astute and bold Prime Ministerial decision!!

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