This summer, I will be spending six weeks in Chiapas, Mexico working with Fundacion Cantaro Azul to develop an effective franchise system for its water sanitation kiosks. This system will enable local entrepreneurs to establish and run the kiosks, creating local partnerships that allow Cantaro Azul to reach a greater number of communities and to ensure that each kiosk is more sustainable and adapted to the specific contexts of its community.
One of the key debates in this sector is the role of the public and private sectors. In the 1980s, the Mexican government underwent neoliberal reforms that privatized a number of industries. The water sector was spun-off into state- and municipal-level organizations, with limited private industry involvement. This decentralization process muddled the accountability and responsibilities of each organization and resulted in a water system that is under invested and unable to effectively deliver clean water to the majority of households, as exemplified by the 2012 NYTimes article, "Mexicans Struggle to Kick Bottled Water Habit".
The recent passing of Margaret Thatcher has brought newfound attention to the issues of neoliberalism and privatization. The main arguments in favor of private industry are efficiency and cost--because businesses are motivated by profits, they will develop programs that deliver the same services as public industries, but with lower costs and less bureaucracy. Additionally, this removes a large burden of costs and time from government concern, freeing up resources for other sectors. While this argument is persuasive, there is a dark side to the profit-motive: businesses which operate solely based on profits, those areas which are unprofitable will not receive services.
This is the exact case in the rural communities of Mexico. Because these communities lack the critical mass to be appealing to private investment, their water infrastructure is sorely lacking, lagging behind those of urban areas by a significant margin.
Cantaro Azul, along with many other NGOs, occupies this space between the private and public sectors. It aims to serve the rural communities that have fallen through these cracks and do not receive adequate services from either private or public water operators. It is important to acknowledge the role NGOs play here as "private" providers of water outside of the state. In class, we studied the receding role of the state in response to NGO operations the "Paradox of Participation" reading. In Mexico, this is certainly the case, as the efforts of NGOs to provide water to communities not served by business interests has enabled the state to play an ever smaller role in water provision. This is dangerous because it means that there is no wide-range, sustainable effort towards water provision at the national scale.
As a critical resource necessary for both life itself and further development, access to clean water is an important right that is ignored by the interests of private industry. In the public/private debate, it is important that these shortcomings be acknowledged and that the government continue to play a role in monitoring private performance in the sector to ensure that exploitation does not take place and in providing incentives and resources so that access is not limited to those areas which are deemed profitable, but instead, made universal.
One of the key debates in this sector is the role of the public and private sectors. In the 1980s, the Mexican government underwent neoliberal reforms that privatized a number of industries. The water sector was spun-off into state- and municipal-level organizations, with limited private industry involvement. This decentralization process muddled the accountability and responsibilities of each organization and resulted in a water system that is under invested and unable to effectively deliver clean water to the majority of households, as exemplified by the 2012 NYTimes article, "Mexicans Struggle to Kick Bottled Water Habit".
The recent passing of Margaret Thatcher has brought newfound attention to the issues of neoliberalism and privatization. The main arguments in favor of private industry are efficiency and cost--because businesses are motivated by profits, they will develop programs that deliver the same services as public industries, but with lower costs and less bureaucracy. Additionally, this removes a large burden of costs and time from government concern, freeing up resources for other sectors. While this argument is persuasive, there is a dark side to the profit-motive: businesses which operate solely based on profits, those areas which are unprofitable will not receive services.
This is the exact case in the rural communities of Mexico. Because these communities lack the critical mass to be appealing to private investment, their water infrastructure is sorely lacking, lagging behind those of urban areas by a significant margin.
Cantaro Azul, along with many other NGOs, occupies this space between the private and public sectors. It aims to serve the rural communities that have fallen through these cracks and do not receive adequate services from either private or public water operators. It is important to acknowledge the role NGOs play here as "private" providers of water outside of the state. In class, we studied the receding role of the state in response to NGO operations the "Paradox of Participation" reading. In Mexico, this is certainly the case, as the efforts of NGOs to provide water to communities not served by business interests has enabled the state to play an ever smaller role in water provision. This is dangerous because it means that there is no wide-range, sustainable effort towards water provision at the national scale.
As a critical resource necessary for both life itself and further development, access to clean water is an important right that is ignored by the interests of private industry. In the public/private debate, it is important that these shortcomings be acknowledged and that the government continue to play a role in monitoring private performance in the sector to ensure that exploitation does not take place and in providing incentives and resources so that access is not limited to those areas which are deemed profitable, but instead, made universal.
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