UN experts: Detroit should restore water to poor

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

UN experts: Detroit should restore water to poor
By JEFF KAROUB, Associated Press | October 20, 2014 | Updated: October 20, 2014 5:33pm

DETROIT (AP) — United Nations human rights experts described Detroit's mass water shut-offs as "a man-made perfect storm" Monday and called on city officials to restore water to those unable to pay, including those with disabilities or chronic illnesses.

~ snip ~

Leilani Farha and Catarina de Albuquerque, who were in town to observe the effect of water service shut-offs, said they affect the poorest and most vulnerable — and particularly discriminate against Detroit's majority black population.

The representatives of the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner made the trip after activists appealed to the U.N. for assistance. They visited residents who have lost water service or have struggled to keep it, and they met with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and water department officials for about two hours Monday morning.

The city, the nation's largest municipality to file for bankruptcy, said it made about 27,000 shut-offs between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30. Most shut-offs were halted for several weeks during the summer to give residents a chance to enter payment plans but they resumed and topped 5,100 in September.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/UN-experts-to-discuss-Detroit-water-shutoffs-5833997.php

[quadrature]

1. better idea .... Rewilding ..nt

[christx30]

2. Let's get the UN to chip in to pay the bills. n/t

[Joe Shlabotnik]

3. No shit. n/t

[Michigan-Arizona]

4. I found this site informative on Detroit's water & foreclosure issues

http://moratorium-mi.org/

[Judi Lynn]

5. Water Shutoffs Robbing Detroit Residents of 'Dignified' Life: UN Investigators

Published on Tuesday, October 21, 2014
by Common Dreams

Water Shutoffs Robbing Detroit Residents of 'Dignified' Life: UN Investigators

Following two-day inquiry, UN experts release strongly worded warning condemning city's human rights violations

by Sarah Lazare, staff writer

Detroit's "unprecedented" shutoff of water utilities to city homes condemns residents to "lives without dignity," violates human rights on a large scale, and disproportionately impacts African-Americans, United Nations investigators declared Monday following a two-day inquiry.

"Denial of access to sufficient quantity of water threatens the rights to adequate housing, life, health, adequate food, integrity of the family," wrote UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Leilani Farha and UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, in a joint statement. "It exacerbates inequalities, stigmatizes people and renders the most vulnerable even more helpless. Lack of access to water and hygiene is also a real threat to public health as certain diseases could widely spread."

The officials visited the city following appeals in June from organizations concerned with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department's (DWSD) escalation of water shut-offs to accounts that have fallen behind on their bills, amounting to up to 3,000 disconnections a week. The increase touched off organizing efforts by residents who charge they're part of a larger plan, in keeping with Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's bankruptcy push, to displace African-Americans and privatize water and public services.

During their investigation, the UN experts held interviews and meetings with local residents, as well as with city officials. On Sunday, hundreds of people crowded into a town hall meeting with the officials. "Once again, the international spotlight was on Detroiters trying to carve out dignified lives while being denied basic necessities of life," said Maureen Taylor, spokesperson for the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and the Detroit People's Water Board, at the town hall meeting.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/10/21/water-shutoffs-robbing-detroit-residents-dignified-life-un-investigators