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03/27/2006:

"Turning the Taps Back to the States"

LOMAS DE ZAMORA, Argentina -- Carina Grossi turned on the tap in her kitchen sink and raised a glass of water to the light, her eyes narrowing in disgust.

"Look at that," said Grossi, 32. "Look how cloudy the water is, how dirty."

"It's a disaster," said her father, Eduardo, a 65-year-old grocer. "That's what is making your mother so sick."

Like many of their neighbors in this working-class suburb of Buenos Aires, the Grossis are convinced that their water is contaminated -- and they now use bottled water to make soup and tea. They blame the problem on the French company that has provided water and sewer service since the federal government privatized the utility in 1993.

Across Latin America, a growing number of people say the privatization of public services, a movement that swept the region in the 1980s and 1990s, has failed. Protests have erupted over the issue in several countries, and some governments are beginning to reverse these policies. Last week Argentina announced it was rescinding its 30-year contract with the French company Suez and reinstating government control of the water supply.

The Grossis, among many others, have welcomed the about-face.

"The trains, the water, the electricity -- I say it all needs to come back to national control," Carina Grossi said. In her suburb, authorities estimate about 30 percent of homes lack water and the majority are without sewage service. "We pay money out to these foreign companies and get nothing in return," she said. "This is our country. We should stop selling it out to others."
washingtonpost.com