Green | December 05, 2010 | 16 comments

Malaysian police clash with protesters over water privitization

source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/154025.html

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JanforGore
Thousands of protesters clashed with Malaysian police to call for an end to privatization of water utilities in the country.

And close to 60 people were arrested for defying a police ban and attempting to march on the streets.

Earlier, opposition legislators gathered near the National Mosque to address the crowd about issues concerning privatization in Selangor, a state which surrounds the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian government has embarked on progressive privatization of water following concerns of water scarcity in the country.

Currently urban Malaysians use 500 liters of water per day.

The government says this could increase to 700 liters per day due to rapid urbanization in the country.

Selangor is the richest state in the country and ruled by the opposition alliance led by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

In 2005, the federal government privatized water management in Selangor to Syabas but the opposition said it has only incurred losses and may need to be bailed out.

Selangor wants to take back water management but this effort is being blocked by the government and Syabas.

Research done has projected that by 2050, 65 countries would be hit by water supply problems with a total of seven billion people affected.

The debate about water privatization has been intensifying in Malaysia. However human rights workers say that there are many other avenues of ensuring adequate water supply in the country without burdening the poor as privatization would lead to a hike in tariffs. But they also say that this needs policy changes from the government.


Video at the link.
  1. groups:
    News and Politics,   Green,   Earth Care,   Human Rights,   1 more
  2. tags:
    Environment,  Economy,  Malaysia,  Water is a Human Right,  2 more
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16 comments // Malaysian police clash with protesters over water privitization

  • floydyboy
    • 0
      floydyboy  

    • The worlds governments must start heavily investing in desalinization plants, otherwise we're all screwed. There is already not enough clean water to go around anymore & our populations keep rising.

    • 2 years ago
  • CalgarC
    • +1
      CalgarC  

    • ain't it a bitch when the people stand up for their rights :D i expect to see more marches and more fights. and not just in Malaysia. we all need to stand up and fix these problems

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • +4
      JanforGore  

    • So the government rep says privitization is "necessary" (not true) because they won't have enough water... then troops fire water cannons at the protesters...

      This is just the beginning.

    • 2 years ago
  • s_peak
    • +4
      s_peak  
    • JanforGore:

      Yeah I noticed that, too. A bit ironic.

      Straight up, water should not be privatized. My heart goes out to the people of Malaysia. Fighting against water privatization is a good fight.

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  
    • s_peak:

      I agree. A fight worth fighting. It's already happened in America without so much as a peep however. But then Americans are too comfortable and distracted for the most part to even notice or care...

    • 2 years ago
  • coxian_armada
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • coxian_armada:

      Thanks, and I do know there are more people who care but feel their voices are not heard. Privitization of what is needed for life is immoral. That includes water and food. It is a shame more don't care about the consequences of this.

    • 2 years ago
  • s_peak
    • +1
      s_peak  
    • JanforGore:

      It's sad... Americans wait until they don't have it handed to them to start freaking out, basically. Maybe it's all the fluoride in the tap water that's making people so lazy? It is highly toxic after all... which is another sad fact.

      I have been stockpiling water, though. The thought of waking up and having no water coming out of the tap is scary, and I won't wait around for it. I have a reverse osmosis system that I use on the tapwater, then I re-add trace minerals. Nature USED to do this for us! Reverse Osmosis is the only way I know of to remove fluoride (and whatever else is in there. Rocket Fuel, prescription drugs, etc). We need much stricter water laws.

    • 2 years ago
  • CalgarC
  • coxian_armada
  • CalgarC
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