The News Review:
- Water Forum Opens With Shortage Warnings
- Work to begin on water supply scheme soon
- Firm Failed to Protect US Troops’ Water
- Warwick | projo.com | The Providence Journal
- Water bill concern
- Diarrhoea outbreak blamed on lack of water
Water Forum Opens With Shortage Warnings
CBS News – Mar 16, 2006
Organizers of the weeklong forum said their goal was to improve water supplies for the poor. But opponents claimed their real mission was privatization. “Water is a public possession that all governments must guarantee,” Mexican President Vicente Fox said in his welcoming speech at the Mexico City convention center where 11,000 delegates and representatives of about 130 countries met behind closed doors. But Loic Fauchon, president of the non-governmental World Water Council, told the 4th World Water Forum that the poor often struggle to obtain decent, affordable water… “Water is a public possession that all governments must guarantee,” Mexican President Vicente Fox said in his welcoming speech at the Mexico City convention center where 11,000 delegates and representatives of about 130 countries met behind closed doors. But Loic Fauchon, president of the non-governmental World Water Council, told the 4th World Water Forum that the poor often struggle to obtain decent, affordable water. “We must stop attempting to solve the problem of water supply on the basis of macro-economic theories, abstract mathematical models, or inhuman restructuring plans,” he said, calling for policies based on “feeling and solidarity. “Fauchon said developed countries should create a huge investment fund to finance water-system improvements in the world’s 50 poorest countries and 20 poorest megacities. “Water is endangered, and with it, so are we all,” Fouchon said, referring to increased pollution and eroded watersheds that are damaging water supplies as demand continues to climb. That demand is growing particularly in developing countries, where many get by on less than 4. 5 gallons of water per day.
Work to begin on water supply scheme soon
Hindu – Mar 16, 2006
25 lakhs Private bus stand not to be shifted to Millaghatta tank bed
SHIMOGA:
Water Resources Minister K. Eshwarappa said here on Wednesday that the foundation stone will be laid soon for the Rs. 28-crore augmented water supply scheme for Shimoga as the Government has already made the token allocation of Rs. 2 crores to commence work on the project. The remaining amount will be released through the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, which is the implementing agency for the scheme, he added. Participating in a meet-the-press programme organised by the Shimoga District Working Journalists’ Association, he said a bridge will be constructed across the Tunga on BH Road in Shimoga at an estimated cost of Rs… Eshwarappa said here on Wednesday that the foundation stone will be laid soon for the Rs. 28-crore augmented water supply scheme for Shimoga as the Government has already made the token allocation of Rs. 2 crores to commence work on the project. The remaining amount will be released through the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, which is the implementing agency for the scheme, he added. Participating in a meet-the-press programme organised by the Shimoga District Working Journalists’ Association, he said a bridge will be constructed across the Tunga on BH Road in Shimoga at an estimated cost of Rs.
Firm Failed to Protect US Troops’ Water
San Francisco Chronicle – Mar 16, 2006
tmpl –> In a May 2005 report, Halliburton’s water treatment manager in the war zone warned that troops and civilians in Iraq were left vulnerable to “mass sickness or death” by a contamination incident at the Ar Ramadi base and that problems existed at other locations across Iraq. “Countrywide, all camps suffer to some extent from all or some of the deficiencies noted,” said the May 2005 report, which was obtained by The Associated Press. Halliburton said it is confident the water its KBR subsidiary is paid to purify for U. troops in Iraq has been safe, and on Thursday it released a followup report, completed last month, that called into question some of the concerns its officials raised last year… forces in Iraq “should not include behavior by contractors who cut corners and whose incompetence fails to manage a program that is supposed to deliver safe water supplies,” Dorgan said. Gary Comerford, spokesman for the Pentagon inspector general, said the review would be one of the first two by the inspector general’s new office in Qatar. The audit will “look at everything involved in this issue,” he said. The first internal company report was written last May by Wil Granger, the “Theatre Water Quality Manager” for Halliburton’s KBR subsidiary. The report cited confusion between the military and the company over their water treatment responsibilities, a lack of training and the absence of records that might have provided warnings of contamination.
Warwick | projo.com | The Providence Journal
Providence Journal – Mar 16, 2006
“We should say no to them more often,” Soper said, “or at least insist that they be more responsible community members. “The issue you raise is one we’re very much aware of,” Lenihan said. He called it “terrible public policy” for the state to allow industry to waste public water supplies. “I would be absolutely shocked if one of the commission’s recommendations didn’t deal with the issue you’re talking about,” he told Soper. Walaska, D-Warwick, a commission member, said water “is as valuable today as oil” and that the state needs to develop “a long-term planning strategy” on water supplies and uses.
Water bill concern
NEWS.com.au – Mar 16, 2006
article-tools –> Kamahl Cogdon March 16, 2006 12:00am MORE than 2000 households had their water supply cut to a trickle for failing to pay their water bills last financial year. Restricting devices were fitted to pipes supplying 2029 domestic customers, including 602 low-income earners, in a bid to force them to pay up. Their treatment has prompted a review of the debt-collection policies of water companies. The Essential Services Commission said it was concerned by the high rate of restrictions and legal action taken against customers, particularly in the bush. Its report card on the state’s 18 metropolitan and regional water retailers found more than 90 per cent of households hit with restrictions were customers of regional water businesses, despite these representing only 30 per cent of the state’s water customers. The report also found legal action was launched against 1835 domestic customers who had not paid their bills. More than half of the supply restrictions were enforced by Coliban Water, which had more than 62,000 water customers in the Bendigo and Castlemaine regions.
Diarrhoea outbreak blamed on lack of water
Independent Online – Mar 16, 2006
Walvis Bay, home to the country’s largest port and the hub of Namibia’s fishing industry, has been hit by severe water shortages, ironically caused by the heavy rains that have fallen this year. Electrical power driving the town’s water reservoirs was knocked out by the overflowing Kuiseb River. Namibia’s water utility, NamWater, has only been able to supply 133m3 of water an hour to Walvis Bay, instead of the 700m3 per hour it needs. The Walvis Bay State Hospital’s Primary Health-Care Supervisor, Magdalena Kusch, said people were dying from the dehydration caused by diarrhoea. She said the water restrictions implemented in the town were the most likely cause of the outbreak. “Personal hygiene is neglected owing to a shortage of clean water and that is the main cause of the situation.