The Privatization of Water Resources in Bolivia

Paper Summary:

Bolivia as a nation, and more specifically, the Cochabamba Valley as a region, have had significant problems recently with the lack of access to safe water resources, exacerbated by the pervasiveness of abject poverty of both the country and the region. This paper shows that the privatization of water services has been implemented as a solution to this lack of access, but so far, these reforms have been anything but successful, especially according to the majority of Bolivians. The paper shows that the results of privatization have included extreme increases in water prices, little improvement in expansion of access and extensive political protest, some of which became violent. However, the paper explains that the alternative of re-nationalization, or returning ownership and control of water resources to the state, has both potential benefits and drawbacks of its own.

From the Paper:

"The policy of the privatization of Bolivia's water resources was implemented for many economic reasons, and was intended to improve upon the water industries already in place and under the ownership and control of the government. This issue has been characteristically unique from other types of privatization policies for one reason: the necessity of water for human beings to exist. Because of this universal human need for clean, drinkable water, many Bolivians claim that access to it is a right, rather than a privilege. Yet in the midst of a complete lack of alternative sources to safe water, some people will turn to possibly unsafe sources such as rainwater, lakes, and rivers. In the past, this has caused outbreaks of serious diseases such as cholera. In Bolivia, where the problem of poverty is extremely dire and millions of people cannot afford or obtain clean, safe water, the privatization of state-owned water companies has been the government's policy solution to the extreme lack of access to water."

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