Our trip was comprised of a frenetic tour, stopping by villages both near and inside the city limits of Hilla, Najaf, and Diwaniya. Hilla, right near Babylon, has a water treatment plant and distribution center that is managed by Salmam Hassan Kadel, who is also the Chief Engineer. The wastewater project here, like in Najaf and Diwaniya, is specifically named on Bechtel's contract as one that they are responsible for rehabilitating.

 

Mr. Kadel informed me that he has received help from UNICEF, Red Cross and several others. He told me that even during the war they had running water in every house, and just had the normal problems of needing to replace old pipes and pumps. Now, they are supplying only 50% of the water they need for the people of Hilla. The villages have no water, and they don't have the pipes they need to get the work done.

 

And they have had no contact from Bechtel, or a subcontractor he said. He tells of massive numbers of people with cholera, diarrhea, nausea, and kidney stones.

 

Mr. Kadel says,Bechtel is spending all of their money without any studies. We give our NGO's all of our information before they do the work, and they know what to do. Bechtel is painting buildings, but this doesn't give clean water to the people who have died from drinking contaminated water. We ask of them that instead of painting buildings, they give us one water pump and we'll use it to give water service to more people. We have had no change since the Americanís came here. We know Bechtel is wasting money, but we can't prove it.

 

Just outside of Hilla I speak with several men of a small village. It's the usual story-no running water, maybe 2-4 hours of electricity per day to run their feeble pumps to pull in contaminated water for them to use.

 

An old man, Hussin Hamsa Nagem, tells me, 'This is just like Saddam's time. In fact, it is worse. We have less water now than before. We are all sick with stomach problems and kidney stones. Our crops are dying.

 

At another small village between Hilla and Najaf, 1500 people are drinking water from a dirty stream which slowly trickles near the homes. Everyone has dysentery, many with kidney stones, a huge number with cholera. One of the men, holding a sick child, tells me, ìt was much better before the invasion. We had 24 hours running water then. Now we are drinking this garbage because it is all we have.

 

A little further down the road at a village of 6000 homes called Abu Hidari, it is more of the same. Here, Saddam was rebuilding the pipes, but this ceased during the invasion and has yet to be resumed. The women are carrying water from a nearby dirty creek into their homes, because again, they have no other option.

 

After a night in Najaf, the next morning finds me at yet another village on the outskirts of Najaf, which falls under the responsibility of Najaf's water center. Here the people had been pro-active in collecting funds from each house to install new pipes. But due to lack of electricity and lack of water from the Najaf water treatment center, they are suffering.

 

A large hole is dug into the ground where they tapped into already existing pipes to siphon water. It fills the dirty hole in the night, when water is collected. This morning, children stand around it as women collect what little bit of dirty water which stands in the bottom of the hole.

 

Dysentary, cholera, nausea, diarrhea, kidney stones everyone is suffering from some water-born illness here, like the rest. 8 children from the village have been killed when attempting to cross the busy highway to a nearby factory in order to retrieve clean water.

 

Women are walking 1 km down to a stream, which dries up in the summer, to collect water for their homes. In the same stream other people are washing their dishes and doing laundry. I am told that many children from the village have drowned in this stream while collecting water.

 

After translating for upwards of several hundred men from at least 10 different villages in this region south of Baghdad, at one point Hamoudi, with a tired and sad look on his face, said,

 

I cannot do this work. They are desperate. They are asking me to help, and I can do nothing for these people. I'm very tired.

 

Mr. Mehdi is an engineer and Assistant Manager at the Najaf water distribution center. With help from Red Cross and the Spanish Army, they are doing some of the rebuilding on their own. He tells me Bechtel has begun working on the Arzaga Water Project to help bring water into the city center of Najaf. He says that Bechtel started one month ago; painting buildings, cleaning and repairing storage tanks and repairing and replacing sand filters.

 

This is the only project he knows of that Bechtel has been working on in Najaf.

 

There has been no work on desalinization, which is critical in this area, or other purification processes.

 

He states, Bechtel is repairing some water facilities, but not improving the electricity any, which is their responsibility. Their work has not produced any more clean water than what we already had. Bechtel has not spoken with us, or promised us to do anything else.

 

.I ask him if he thinks Bechtel can meet their contractual obligation of restoring potable water supply in all of the urban centers of Iraq by April 17th, and he laughs.

 

I ask him, "How successful has Bechtel been in restoring electrical service to your water facility which depends on electricity to operate?" He tells me at least 30% of Najaf doesn't have clean water simply because of lack of electricity.

 

In Diwaniya, and each of the 5 other villages I visited the story is the same. Change the names of the people and the names of the city/village, and we find cholera, dysentery, diarrhea, nausea, less than 8 hours of electricity per day, contaminated water (or no water), and everyone is suffering.

 

All of these people are Shiíite Muslims, those the US hopes to gain the support of. Those who have been promised the most, and had the most hope for a better life now that they are no longer living in the shadow of Saddam Hussein. These are the people who suffered the most from his regime.

 

I am here to state, unequivocally, that 100% of the people I spoke with in this area south of Baghdad have stated that their living conditions are worse now than when Saddam was in power.

 

Mr. Hassan Mehdi Mohammed lives in a small village with his wife and 8 children, about an hours drive south of Baghdad. His village has 80% unemployment. He tells me,

 

"The Americanís have come and taken everything but have given us nothing. It is worse than before. We were hoping it would be better than before, but now it is worse. The IGC has forgotten to take care of the Iraqi people."

 

I ask him what he thinks needs to occur to improve their situation.

 

"First, we need security. But the Americanís aren't even safe themselves. They are killed everyday. We like to hear that companies are coming here and we can work for them, but the IGC is always disagreeing amongst themselves. They have done nothing to help. We need free elections, this would be good for the people and give them hope. But we know Mr. Bremer will cheat us with those."

 

I ask him what he thinks will happen here in the near future.

 

"If we donít get our elections, there will be a bloody war. I fear a civilian war."

 

More of his children come sit with us as we drink chai and talk. He continues,

 

"I think the Americanís came here because they want something, not just because they love the Iraqi people. If they really came to help, then they should leave quickly. Now we are waiting for the next 6 months. The longer we wait, the more we see their promises are not being kept."

 

He takes a sip of chai, thinks for a moment, and says,

 

"No occupation ever makes things good for the people. All the people in the world must know the Americanís are here just to help Mr. Bush win this next election. The same people who benefited under Saddam are benefiting more now. And the same people who suffered under Saddam, are suffering even more now."

 

His brother-in-law, Saduk al Abid, who has joined the discussion says,

 

"Iraqi people now have no trust in the Americanís or the IGC. They have given us one empty promise after another. We can feel the emptiness of all of their promises now."

 

Both of these men fought in the Intifada against Saddam Hussein in 1991. Now they both lack jobs and are suffering worse than before.

 

Mr. Abid says, "During Saddamís time we could at least find a job and bring home some money. Now, we cannot."

 

We drive the rest of the way back to Baghdad and listen to the news of a bus being exploded by an IED on the Dora Highway, and three US soldiers missing near Mosul. More Iraqi Police are killed in this incident as well.

 

Last night we hear a couple of loud explosions, then listen to the warning sirens wailing from the CPA headquarters in Baghdad as it was once again attacked with rockets. Several Bradley fighting vehicles rumble down the street under my window, and helicopters fly across Baghdad in different directions

Launching the movement in the Indian capital New Delhi, Vandana Shiva of the NGO, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology alleged, "These two companies are the prime exploiters of global water resources. Suez leads in privatization of water in most countries and Coca Cola leads in having conflicts with local people over groundwater mining."

PWWF participants, comprising nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from more than 60 countries, have decided to spread the word against water privatization and educate people on water rights on their close to 1,500 kilometer train journey from New Delhi to Mumbai.

Declared Shiva, "We will take our concerns on water-related issues to those organizations, which are not working on them. We plan to hold public hearings, testimonies and workshops."

NGOs have decided to give a push to campaigns against corporate groundwater extraction which have devastated local ecology, indigenous communities and economies, in Plachimada in south India, Varanasi in north India and Potisi in Chile .

The Forum also pledged support to local people and communities in their battled for water resources. The communities will be given support on issues like relocation of people due to river linking, privatization of water, groundwater mining by multinational companies and cutting off water supply to the poor.

The movement will also lobby with the United Nations (UN) to ensure water is included as a fundamental right in its International Covenant of Ecological, Social and Cultural Rights.

Tony Clarke from the Polaris Institute, Canada added that, "Apart from the UN, we will also lobby with national governments to accept and give water the status of a human right. Water is a public good that needs to be publicly financed and not given in private hands."

PWWF has decided to educate people against the ill effects of privatization of water. Activists said most water projects are being executed with public money, but there is a popular misconception that the projects are funded by multinational companies (MNCs) and the private sector.

The Forum plans to act as a pressure group as well.

As Clarke puts it, "The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are giving a big push to privatization of water. But the money with the World Bank is public money, so it should be used for public work. People are not aware of this. We want to pressure the Bank into supporting public water utilities and respecting the human right to water."

The alliance also wants governments to come clean on their projects with MNCs. As Shiva put it, "The Delhi government has not made public its pact with the Suez company for a water treatment plant in north-east Delhi. We want to see it because such agreements always go against the interests of the poor."

Agreed President of the Danielle Mitterrand Foundation, Danielle Mitterrand, "Privatization of water is against the interests of people. Governments should think of alternative methods of water distribution, instead of handing over water resources to private companies."

Danielle, the wife of late French President Francois Mitterrand, remains involved in the global movement against water privatization for the last four years. She said mayors of many cities in France have created an association Aqua Revolte - to take back water supply from private companies.

Most NGOs at the global water meet were also opposed to massive river linking projects, on the grounds that river diversion projects displace people, upset ecosystems and constitute anti-democratic water use and management.

Clarke said river diversion schemes are spreading like an epidemic. "These are unsustainable, outmoded and obsolete, but are being resorted to by the Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Spanish and even African governments."

Niel Robinson, a minority activist from the US said private water companies in the US have cut off the supply of poor people who were unable to pay for water. Minorities, women-headed households and the poor are the worst affected.

Shiva added that the PWWF will also rally pilgrims for the cause of India's sacred river Ganges. She said, "The holy dip in which pilgrims from all over India take a bath in the Ganges, has begun. But people have'nt been told water will be diverted because it has been privatised. This will hurt people's religious beliefs."

© Copyright 2004 OneWorld.net

Making the blooms desert
By Jessica McCallin

Many people wonder why Israel won't give back the occupied territories in return for peace. One reason is that more than half of Israel's water supplies now come from the Mountain Aquifer and
Jordan river basin, which are situated deep within them

Jericho used to be one of Palestine's prime agricultural spots. An abundance of springs made the fertile land surrounding the ancient town famous for its oranges, bananas and strawberries.

Now, all that is changing. Fields are drying up, crops are dying and farmers are being put out of work. The reason is simple: water. Israeli settlements get priority access to water and as they expand and new ones are built, the amount of water available to Palestinians decreases. Because of its strategic location between Jerusalem and Jordan, the Jericho region has been particularly affected.

It helps Israel divide the north and south of the West Bank from each other, and creates "facts on the ground" that preclude the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. But its water crises are repeated across the Palestinian Territories.

Since seizing the West Bank in 1967, Israel has illegally exploited the Mountain Aquifer and Jordan river basin. Many historians believe this has been the underlying reason for the invasion and occupation of the West Bank.

One of the first military orders of the occupation was the confiscation of almost all West Bank wells. Since then, drilling for new wells has been banned and quotas have been imposed on the existing ones. The amount of water allocated to Palestinians has been capped at 1967 levels, despite the subsequent growth in population.

Water has always been a source of conflict in the Middle East. Israeli attempts to divert water from the Jordan-Yarmouk river basin into the Negev were a key source of the 1967 war. And the Golan Heights, which Israel still refuses to give back to Syria, are also water rich.

Today, Israel uses 79% of the Mountain Aquifer and all of the Jordan River Basin -- bar a small quantity that it sells to Palestinians in Gaza. The result is apartheid in all but name.

Israelis get 350 litres of water per person per day, Palestinians get just 70 litres. The minimal quantity of water recommended by the World Health Organisation is 100 litres.

When supplies run low during the summer months, the Israeli water company, Mekorot, simply shuts off the valves that supply Palestinian towns. This means settlers get their swimming pools topped up while Palestinian villages a few miles away run out of drinking water.

When tensions are high -- as they are now -- the situation becomes unbearable, especially for the 25 per cent of Palestinian villages that were never connected to a water supply.

Since the start of the Intifada, Israel has made it almost impossible for water tankers to enter Palestinian areas -- or for villagers to get to nearby wells. B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights group says Israeli soldiers sometimes beat and humiliate tanker drivers or deliberately spill their water.

Yunis Muhammed 'Abd Tim Jabarin, a father of eight from a village in southern Hebron described how, in hot weather, "often we don't have water for ten to twenty days. In such situations, my wife and daughters ask the neighbours for water, but they can only give enough for drinking and cooking. As for washing, we have got used to showering once every five to seven days. The situation is intolerable, especially in the summer."

But towns with connections also face problems, according to Ayman Rabi, of the Palestinian Hydrological Group. "Settlers attack the Palestinians' water supply, severing pipes and switching off valves," he said. "They dump untreated sewage on Palestinian land, polluting wells and aquifers." The Israeli army has also routinely destroyed water supplies, an activity defined as a war crime.

Part of the problem is that the Oslo peace process tried to institutionalise Israel's theft of Palestinian water, and its discriminatory allocation system. Yehezkel Lein of B'Tselem said, "Comments from Israeli offices give the impression that Oslo transferred responsibility (for water supplies) to the Palestinian Authority."

"However, Israel continues to maintain almost total control over water in the occupied territories. Every new project, from drilling a well to laying pipes or building a reservoir, requires Israel's consent."

Israeli reluctance to relinquish control of West Bank water is not surprising. More than a quarter of its water supplies now come from the West Bank aquifer -- and over a third comes from the Jordan Basin. But it has no legal right to the water -- and it's not using it sustainably. Private swimming pools and green lawns are not a priority in desert areas.

Over-extraction from the Jordan river is the main reason the river flow has dropped nearly 90 per cent in the last 50 years. It is now just a small stream, too small to replenish the Dead Sea, which is also fast disappearing. Many hydrologists predict that it won't exist in 50 years. So how will the population of Israel and Palestine -- predicted to double in 25 years -- survive?

Israel likes to boast about how it made the desert bloom, how the original inhabitants of Palestine were "wasting" the land. But far from wasting the land, the Arabs lived within its constraints, in harmony with it. By making parts of its desert bloom, Israel has simply turned parts of Arab land into desert, unable to provide its inhabitants with water, the most fundamental pre-requisite for human life.

 

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