WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

is true: it is the energy companies who are dependent on the knowhow
of municipal utilities in their attempts to conquer international
markets. The loss of expertise following a sell-off, which leaves local
authorities at the mercy of the private operators, is a matter of far
greater concern.
The private sector is cheaper and more efficient.
Up to the present moment in time, no cases have become known, either
in Germany or any other country, where privatisation has resulted in
higher quality and lower prices. In the long run, privatisation costs
local authorities far more than it would have done to run the water
supply themselves. Also, if a town or city council needs money, it can
take advantage of loans at a favourable rate of interest on account of its
creditworthiness and is not compelled, like private companies are, to
make profits. Councils are able to work according to the cost-recovery
principle.
There is a tailback of investments and private
enterprise is out there just waiting to invest.
It is not the task of local authorities to worry about when and where
large companies will find opportunities to invest. A municipality’s
essential services are exclusively there for the benefit of its citizens and
must serve no other purpose.
A company will act in an environmentally-aware
manner because environmental protection is in its
own best interests.
This is what we are being told by the glossy brochures. In reality,
however, the sole aim of a private company is to make and increase its
profits. In Berlin, plots of land were sold off – despite the fact that they
were situated in a water conservation area and were being reserved
for the prophylactic conservation of ground water. What happened
in London demonstrates how the operator only took an interest in
water wastage and water contamination caused by severe leakage when
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