WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

y the Bolivian government in the course of public-sector reforms. In July 1997, a concession
contract was concluded with the AISA Group (Aguas del Illimani S.A.), in which the French water
giant Suez holds 54% of shares. A 30-year concession granted AISA the right to use specified
water sources and to run the conurbation’s drinking-water supply and sewage disposal systems.
Only eight years later, the Bolivian government instructed its regulatory body, SISAB, to take
steps to terminate the concession and all business links with AISA (Supreme Decree No. 27973
of 11.01.2005). Carlos Mesa, president at the time, was reacting to week-long popular protest
in El Alto. Under the leadership of Abel Mamani, the Federation of Neighbourhood Councils
from El Alto (FEJUVE El Alto) was the driving force of the opposition movement. Private-sector
participation had encountered resistance in La Paz and El Alto from the very start. The first
rallies against tariff increases took place as early as 1997. In 2000, protests intensified due to
the impressions left behind by the “water wars” that took place in Cochabamba when citizens
rebelled against the privatisation of the public water utility and higher service fees. In February
2003, the conflict escalated in El Alto and La Paz. Demonstrators set fire to AISA offices. Unrest
in October of the same year revolved mainly around the export of natural gas, but it was also
accompanied by protests against AISA. In December 2004, FEJUVE presented the government
with an ultimatum, in an attempt to have the concession terminated. Negotiations failed and,
in January 2005, the grassroots movement called a general strike. In view of the impending
escalation, the government of Carlos Mesa decided to rescind the contract with AISA.
SAP Structural Adjustment Programmes
Initiated by the World Bank and IMF, whereby loans granted to developing countries are linked to
preconditions such as the privatisation of national resources and infrastructure.
SAP Section de l’assainissement de Paris
Publicly-run French company, collecting wastewater.
SC Service Contract
Term used in the USA for a certain kind of CBL deal.
SECO Secrétariat d’Etat à l’économie
(National Office for Economic Affairs) Swiss “Competence Centre” which deals with all core
issues of economic policy; its goal is to open up all markets for Swiss goods, services and
investments; similar to the German GTZ and likewise involved in development aid policy.
SEDIF Syndicat des eaux d’Ile-de-France
Name given to the two French water giants Suez and Veolia. Both have come under attack from
local councillors, citizens and the law. Although they present themselves as “the biggest publicservice
water distribution in France”, the label “public-service” disguises a very different sort of
organisation and misuses the term “public”.
SEERC Société des Equipements et d’Entretien des
Réseaux Communaux
Subsidiary of the French giant Suez.
SEG Société des Eaux de Grenoble
This public-private company was founded in 1996. The City of Grenoble held 51% of shares, while
the remaining 49% were owned by the water giant Suez. Despite its minority holding, the private
group had extensive veto rights in all important decisions. Operations were outsourced to the
Société Grenobloise de l’Eau et de l’Assainissement (SGEA), another 100% subsidiary of Suez.
(see: COGESE)
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