The Company Involved In Flint’s Water Crisis May Be Contracted To Provide Water In Lagos

But somehow, ironically, 70% of the 21 million people who live in Lagos lack access to drinkable water — a lot of residents get water from private water hawkers and water trucks, rainwater or polluted rivers and streams.
And the state wants to fix that by bringing in private companies to fix the crumbling water infrastructure.
That makes sense, in theory: the government can offload the huge costs of repairing the water systems onto private companies with deeper pockets and technical know-how.
But according to a Buzzfeed News report, the company at the top of the Lagos state government’s list for the contract is Veolia, the company whose alleged “botched” role in the cities of Flint and Pittsburgh exposed residents to dangerously high lead levels in water.
Citizens have protested the privatisation of water several times — in 2016, and again in 2017 — and they’re still protesting it!
That’s not a good way to run anything — just based on hope.
They’re not going to spend money on these systems out of the goodness of their heart."
With these kinds of developments, it’s safe to imagine that one day every last drop of water will be controlled by profit-hungry private companies who seldom have any direct line of accountability, and who are definitely not carrying out these projects altruistically.
(Photo: Guardian NG) Philip Jakpor, project manager at Friends of the Earth Nigeria — the local branch of the global environmental group — told BuzzFeed News: "Rather than looking at water from the human-right perspective, the government is looking at 21 million residents and the revenue they can generate.
Lagos is the latest African city to struggle with water scarcity.

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