Essay draft

Andre Clayton- 1305719
Academic Writing 2
Wednesdays 2:00-5:00 PM
October 4th 2015
Lecturer: Ms. Daidrah Smith
University of Technology
Jamaica

Essay Draft
Is water a free and basic human right, or should all the water on the planet belong to major corporations and be treated like a product? Should the poor who cannot afford to pay these said corporations suffer from starvation due to their lack of financial wealth? Water Privatization refers to the transfer of ownership of water resources from the public sector to the private sector. Countries such as Australia, Canada, Argentina and Britain all have private water supplies and are facing numeric challenges such as a lack of access to clean water, corruption in the process and a reduction in local control and public rights. Should Jamaica be allowed to go through the same problems these countries face? Water is a fundamental human right and should be available to all the people of the world for little or nothing. Due to it being a human right Jamaica’s water supply should not be privatized as privatization may lead to rate increases and poor water quality.
Firstly, Privatization of Jamaica’s water supply would lead to rate increases. Over the years Private corporations increase rates to increase and boost their profits for which they are accountable to shareholders not to consumers. This would lead to customers paying more for water supply on their monthly bill since the private entity recovers its investment and profit through user bills, privatizing water can lead to considerable rate hikes for consumers. In fact, consumers can expect future rate increases to reflect the size of the upfront payment that a local government receives in a privatization scheme. On the other hand Private companies often times promise to repair, upgrade and maintain infrastructures, seemingly saving the