The Parish Assembly of Parchal, in the municipality of Lagoa, approved the motion presented by the Left Block, in defense of public water.
With the favorable votes of the Left Bloc, the Socialist Party and an abstention from the Social Democratic Party, the document presented by the blocists was approved by a majority, which defends water as «a good and a public service, with guarantees for its access to all and all and also as a right of citizenship».
Jorge Ramos, elected by BE to the Parish Assembly of Parchal, defended that two essential documents for the fight for the defense of water as a common public good, the Ecumenical declaration, a document signed by several religions, and the declaration of the international water decade ( 2005-2015) by the UN, are important arguments for considering that water can never be privatized.
“Water is a fundamental asset for life. Without water there is no life. Having access or not having access to water means deciding on the life and death of the people”, he added
In the document presented by the blocistas it can be read that Portugal ratified the “Voluntary Guidelines for the right to food” of the FAO in November 2004, in which water is treated as a public good and the UN also defines it as “the right adequate food”, in article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Apart from this initiative, a petition is circulating for the “no” to privatization of water and recently, the BE parliamentary group presented the proposal for a national referendum on the privatization of the company Águas de Portugal, which was rejected by the parties of the PSD/CDS-coalition. PP.
“Water must be placed at the service of life and this reality will not be ensured by a company that only seeks profits” conclude the blockers of Lagoa.
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