WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

water in order to increase the sale of bottled water might well
become apparent, resulting in higher prices for the consumer
as well as very serious environmental pollution, caused by
millions of plastic bottles.
• Whenever public services are privatised, horrendous system
costs are incurred: price increases, value-added tax, land
transfer tax when land is acquired, higher interest rates on
borrowed money, guaranteed profits, risk surcharge, profit
taxes, trade tax as well as soft costs for consultants and similar
services. Add to all this the indirect system costs such as pay
cuts and the subsequent loss of spending power, redundancies
and the rising number of unemployed people who have to be
supported by the welfare systems.
• Through the act of privatising public services, the state and the
business sector enter into insider deals with one another and
democracy is increasingly undermined.
• The privatisation of public services encourages and in fact
leads to certain forms of lobbying and corruption as well as
violations of contract award regulations, the promotion of
areas not regulated by the law, the bypassing of parliaments
and councils, the betrayal of interests and striving for personal
gain.
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