Autor: Bernard Naughton | Publicado: 2014-10-29T07:31:00-07:00





Water Shortage in Itu ------ Lessons
to be learned

The extreme situation of no public water which has been
going on for the last 5 months in Itu has many important lessons to teach us.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <!--[endif]-->Public Resources should not be Privatized

Why?&nbsp;
Because public resources belong to the people as a whole and not to some
private company which always has profit as it’s reason for existence.(raison
d’etre).

&nbsp;When
it comes to public services , however, like public transport –trains, buses
etc. a case can be made for private companies taking over inefficient
government services , provided the private companies are monitored by public
watchdogs with power to take legal action and intervene if considered&nbsp; necessary.&nbsp;
This seems to work effectively with Anatel here in Brazil, who handle
complaints from the public about the quality of phone services from the many
private telephony companies here.&nbsp; &nbsp;The situation when I first came to Brazil in
1997 was backward. The government phone company was archaic and new lines were
not to be had , so we ended buying a line from a friend at the market price of
around R$2,000 !! Nowadays you can get a new line for around R$30 in a matter
of a few hours. 

Water is a public resource in a way which
oil, gas are not in the sense that it’s a basic element like air and&nbsp; fire and as such cannot be ‘ claimed’&nbsp; by individuals as their&nbsp; ‘ property’&nbsp;&nbsp;
to be bought and sold as any other product.&nbsp; If we allow companies to own water rights and
charge people&nbsp; for providing the service
what will happen if one day some ‘ genius’ comes up with a way to regulate air
with gauges in every neighborhood&nbsp; and
enforces paying a charge to receive your supply of air for the month. &nbsp;Richer neighborhoods who pay more could
receive purified air while poor areas would only receive recycled poor quality
air . A ridiculous concept , right? Well, what’s the difference when water
companies&nbsp; charge for supplying water to
your house?&nbsp; They are using a public
resource to make private profit .&nbsp; Their
claim that they are cleaning the water and spending money to do so, only exists
because the water supply has been so polluted by incorrect use by both private
and public companies. If we had an intelligent and sustainable water usage
system this process of ‘ purifying ‘ water would not exist at least in its
current form. 



<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <!--[endif]-->Investment in infrastructure is not an
option but&nbsp; the basis for&nbsp; public welfare &nbsp;and quality of life.

The situation in Itu has been so for many
years . Water rationing has happened every year&nbsp;
not because it doesn’t rain, but because public funds are not used
correctly . Instead of being used to invest in public services the funds are
used to fill the bank accounts of opportunistic politicians. The brewery
company called Schincariol set up in Itu because the family are from Itu.&nbsp; Knowing that water would be a major resource
necessary for their operation, they took the initiative to invest in sourcing
water from another region and piping it to Itu.&nbsp;
The Itu&nbsp; City Hall did no such
thing, letting the replenishment of reservoirs to the vagaries of the
weather.&nbsp; The tools to avoid the
consequences of dry periods are there, but elected representatives think about
their&nbsp; own&nbsp; welfare&nbsp;
and ‘ to hell with the rest’&nbsp;
!&nbsp;&nbsp; Not only was there no
investment , the water company was privatized to make profit for the new ‘
owners ‘&nbsp; of the water.&nbsp;&nbsp; Points 1+2 are guaranteed to lead to
disaster , sooner or later.&nbsp;&nbsp; Various sources
have led me to believe that the former Mayor&nbsp;
is behind this new company , not on paper of course but effectively. &nbsp;Criminality takes many forms in this exploited
land of Brazil!

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <!--[endif]-->Exploitation of water involves everybody.

Here in this part of Brazil, washing the
yard inside your house or even the&nbsp;
sidewalk in front of your house from an open hose is considered normal.&nbsp; I feel outrage and sadness every time I see
some person doing this. Treating such a precious resource like water in such a
mindless, disrespectful way&nbsp; demonstrates
an attitude of no appreciation, of taking things for granted, of
thoughtlessness which is unworthy of human behavior and shows we have many
things to learn about our symbiotic relationship with Mother Earth . Our planet
is exploited like black people were exploited in centuries gone by.&nbsp; We create waste with no thought of recycling,
or we create products designed to be obsolete in a short time so new products
need to be produced in order to generate more profit with no concern for the
limited resources in nature. Water is precious&nbsp;
and should be respected as such.&nbsp;
Conservation of water must become a&nbsp;
habit not only a reaction to shortage. 



<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <!--[endif]-->Anger at others is no solution

The elected representatives are
put there, not by force , but by the people.&nbsp;
We are the people, we contribute to these situations by our apathy,&nbsp; ignorance, non-involvement.&nbsp; Opportunists appear when opportunities are
created for them .&nbsp; Democracy can work if
the people take responsibility to make it work and not just ‘ point the
finger’&nbsp; when problems come up!