WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

unspectacular title Public-Private Partnerships. New Opportunities for
Public Services. Behind this modest title, however, lies a privatisation
model which is already known in principle as Public-Private Partnership
(PPP), but which is now to be propelled forward even more rigorously
by means of statutory requirements. On July 1, 2005, the Public-Private
Partnerships Acceleration Act got through parliament and came into
force the following September.
The brochure endeavours to convince out-of-pocket town and
city councils that they are no longer able to carry out their duties by
themselves – e.g. the renovation of schools. Private operators, who
usually buy an object and then lease it back to the community – so the
drift of the argument – would be able to work more efficiently; between
10 and 20 per cent of costs could be saved. In reality, local authorities
are getting a very bad deal because they have to commit themselves to
ministering to the financial demands of the private company over a
lengthy period of time.
The offer of short-term financial assistance, allowing local authorities
to breathe a temporary sigh of relief, is a very tempting one indeed.
The long-term costs, however, are usually much higher because they
apply to the entire period of contractual validity. Like borrowing, these
costs place the burden on the shoulders of future generations as well.
All this goes hand in hand with the progressive loss of freedom to make
autonomous decisions.
The details of the Public-Private Partnerships Acceleration Act
were elaborated by a team of 40 bureaucrats, 60 representatives
from the world of private enterprise – and Mr. Kornelius Kleinlein, a
commercial advisor at Hogan & Hartson. This big U.S. international
legal corporation has excellent connections: as well as owning an office
in Berlin, it has more than 1,000 lawyers who are active worldwide. 61
It is worth mentioning that Mr. Kleinlein offered his “legislative
expertise” to the SPD project manager free of charge – honi soit qui
mal y pense! Once he had set to work, he proposed an amendment
to the Federal Budget Code which, up to now, had made it difficult
to privatise those public assets regarded as being “essential”. With
the PPP Acceleration Act, the way would now be free for the sale of
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