The Coalition against Water Privatisation's (CAWP) next mission is to educate the energy, water and communications minister and his senior officials on human rights to water, said its spokesperson Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud today.

A series of seminars will be conducted nationwide targeting the minister himself, his ministry's top brass, MPs, and civil society because the lack of knowledge on the issue has resulted in minimum support from them.

"People are also not following this issue closely probably because they are not sensitive to it. They expect others to oppose it (for them)," said Syed Shahir who is also Malaysian Trade Union Congress president.

He spoke on behalf of 26 non-governmental organisations who endorsed a memorandum on local privatisation of water services which was submitted to the Human Right Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) in Kuala Lumpur today. The event was attended by about 20 representatives from the NGOs.

"There is no need for researches anymore. We need action," Syed Shahir stressed.

The nationwide seminars will be carried out principally to halt water privatisation and to educate the people and relevant authorities on the issue just before the tabling of the Water Industry Bill and the National Water Services Commission Bill in Parliament next month.

The bills were made possible following the amendment to the Constitution during a special parliamentary sitting last month to transfer its judicial powers on water from state to the federal government.

Do not know impact

CAWP will collaborate with Suhakam in educating and creating public awareness on water privatisation starting with a seminar in Selangor on March 23, in conjunction with World Water Day. The roadshows will be held nationwide till October.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations president Marimuthu Nadason said the lack of support from the public and other NGOs to the issue was because they have never seen the impact of water privatisation.

"The higher cost of living has resulted from privatisation. For instance, highways privatised to Plus Expressways Bhd have caused toll rates to go up every three years," he said.

"Water privatisation is the same. Private concessionaires are more inclined to be profit-oriented which allows subsidies and cross-subsidies to be abolished.

"This will give an impact to the lower income population. It has been proven that the track record of privatisation has not been in the best interests of the people," he stressed.

As water is a basic need, the government should be the sole party responsible in providing clean water to all, he added.