“Water Water Water every but not a drop to drink because it’s either polluted or people can’t afford it”
Only 3% of Peru’s water is drinkable, and here is why: Power and money.
Peru is rich in treasures; Peru is the leading producer of silver, the second largest of copper, the fourth largest of zinc and lead, and the fifth largest producer of gold. For this reason, Peru is (literally) a gold mine for international mining companies such as Chinalco (a Chinese mining company running a 2.5 billion dollar project that plans to extract 210,000 tonnes of copper from the foot of Mount Toromocho (in the Junin region in the centre of Peru). For cheap production all the bi-products, of mining are simply dumped in the rivers of Peru. Abnormal amounts of minerals and metals within a river completely ruins the ecosystem- the fish and other species die, the water that evaporates from the rivers is rained back onto the soil and fails to nurture the plants in the way that it should thus the topsoil becomes eroded. Worst of all large amounts of arsenic are deposited into the rivers poisoning indigenous communities who rely on the rivers as their only water supply. If you buy a silver necklace or a gold ring, it is unlikely that you’d even consider that blood has been shed for it’s production.
They do not have access to the education needed to prevent drinking unclean water or the funds, and they do not have the means by which to filter their water to prevent poisoning. Yet because mining has a massive impact on Peru’s economy, the indigenous communities of Peru are completely marginalised and ignored.
As well as this, Peru’s coast is the most densely populated area of the country- a dry deserters place. The masses have settled here, despite the obvious lack of drinking water. Water scarcity in Peru is rife, yet you wouldn’t think that at a first glance. (Peru is the 3rdcountry most dramatically affected by climate change below China and India). It would seem that water is disposable, and of little value, yet the glaciers that provide the masses of Peru with their water are melting rapidly. Some are predicted to have completely melted by 2020. The water scarcity crisis is predicted to become a security threat within 5 years, all due to global warming and the desertification of the land- the modern world’s infliction.
Yet no-one seems to be in a panic. Take the U.S. for example, they pump millions of dollars into Peru’s security system to try and stop the export of cocaine into their country, yet they fail to even acknowledge the water crisis at-all. Bear in mind that Peru’s economy (and therefore government) is heavily influenced by the U.S. when the U.S. are buying large amounts of Peru’s exports along with superpower China.
The irony of this is that whilst the rich are the inflictors, the poor are the ones who suffer the most as a result. For example, here in Peru, because water is so scarce, it is sold by private companies for prices around 1000 times more than we pay for tap water in the UK. Can the poor always afford water? No. Why? Because everything is a product; People’s lives can be bought and sold. The common notion of water being the new blue gold is far to say applicable here in Peru.
We’ve all heard the global warming campaigns time and time again and most of us have paid little to no attention to them. It doesn’t feel as though global warming is an immediate crisis in any way, though the effects of such problems are being faced by our brothers and sisters all around the world today, predominately the poor as they are the ones who can’t afford to protect themselves from the crisis.
The truth is that we’re so desensitised to the global effects that we are having as consumerists in the west, by consuming other countries minerals and foods where are slowly starving them of existence.
We need to learn how to simplify our lifestyles and be aware of where we’re spending our money; we need to be aware of who and what we’re funding. However this isn’t the only responsibility we have as global citizens.
We need to make a conscious effort to open our eyes to the ways of the world and not just submit to them because we feel powerless. We are not powerless. We are the consumer, and without the consumer the producers become powerless. Capitalism teaches us that we are individuals- that we must tend to ourselves before anyone else. But this is sheer nonsense. We literally cannot live our lives without a dependence on each-other, so why then do we choose to ignore our responsibility for each-other when it suits us? Would we not rely on others in time of desperation?
This conclusion on the situation of things was through a lecture recently that my team and I attended a talk on the water crisis in Peru, which was hosted by Peter Kroenig from the World Bank, and Reinhard Seifert who worked as the defence minister for Cajamarca (a province in Peru where there are high mortality rates due to water shortage and polluted water).
Rienhard having campaigned against mining in Cajamarca has been threatened and companies have attempted to bribe him in order for his favour. Essentially the world is really not as idealistic as what you may think.
