
To the ensuring of the human right for access to clean drinking water, and the prohibition of all forms of privatization, direct or indirect proceeded the Parliament of Ecuador.
With 103 votes, the House of the National Assembly of Ecuador approved the draft Law on Water Resources, Use and Development of Water, more commonly known as “Law of Water”.
In the presence of 126 members of the Assembly, at 09:30 voting started, right after the second reading of the draft. Present in the hall were autonomous groups and farmers in alliance with the government, supporting this legislation.
This law will be subject to a presidential veto, prohibiting “all forms of water privatization, because of its importance for life, economy and environment, hence, can not be subject to any trade agreement with the government, multilateral organization or private company, domestic or foreign. Its management will be exclusively public or community led.
A similar legislative protection of the public character of water already exists in the Netherlands and Lithuania.
Note: For the translation of information from the Spanish used in the post we thank Anastasia Panagiotidou.