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ACTIVISTS CHALLENGE UNITED WATER--SUEZ SUBSIDIARY--TO END ABUSES For Immediate Release: Contacts: Harrington Park, New Jersey--As water giant Suez holds its annual shareholders' meeting in Paris, activists are calling on its US subsidiary--United Water--to help end the corporation's abuses. During a peaceful demonstration at United Water's New Jersey facility, environmental, corporate accountability and consumer advocates are delivering a letter to CEO Anthony Harding, signed by nearly 50 organizations from around the world. Public Citizen, Corporate Accountability International, Agricultural Missions, Inc. and RED UMAVIDA organized the event at United Water today, coordinated with communities around world holding peaceful protests in defense of people's right to water and access to water services. To read the letter, click here. "The public is all too familiar with corporate greed driving corporate misbehavior. Private water corporations do not exist to provide safe and affordable water to you and your family. They exist to get as much money as they possibly can from you and your family," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Water for All Campaign. Suez is one of the world's largest private suppliers of water and sanitation services. Its documented history of price gouging and negligent management has left many people with dramatic increases on their water bills and thousands of others without access to potable water, from Atlanta, Georgia to El Alto, Bolivia. Under Suez's management, water prices often rise while water-system maintenance declines and infrastructure deteriorates. Suez aggressively pursues government contracts to manage public water systems which are heavily subsidized and require minimal investment. Such agreements enable Suez to monopolize local water systems, and then raise prices to make a profit. This practice frequently denies thousands of people access to potable water and exposes many to grave health risks. "Water is a basic human right and people's lack of access to water is an emerging global crisis. The United Nations estimates that by the year 2025, two-thirds of the world's population will not have access to enough water if current trends are not reversed. Suez is a leader in an industry that is turning a right into an unaffordable luxury. Our members are joining with people around the world to reject Suez's abuses," says Corporate Accountability International Associate Campaigns Director Gigi Kellett. Suez is positioned to profit from water scarcity and to make the global water crisis worse. Community leaders and corporate accountability activists from across the globe traveled to Paris to deliver powerful statements of concern to CEO Gérard Mestrallet at today's shareholders' meeting. Meanwhile, peaceful demonstrations take place at Suez facilities around the world including: Buenos Aires, La Paz, London, Montevideo, Manila, Rome and Santiago. "In January of this year, the community of El Alto, Bolivia successfully mobilized to demand that Suez leave," says Mariela Ribera, a representative of RED UMAVIDA, who was present at Suez's New Jersey facility today on behalf of a coalition of Bolivian non-governmental organizations. "Suez denied water to more than 200,000 residents in El Alto while ensuring a 13% rate of return for shareholders."
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