Carlos Slim--bad things said about him--right here
November 25, 2007
Ciudad Juarez-Chihuaua News
Carlos Slim Stages a Border Water Coup
In a flashy desert ceremony replete with mariachis and cheering supporters,
Chihuahua Governor Jose Reyes Baeza kicked off a huge, new water supply
and sanitation project for Ciudad Juarez on November 23. Designed to
provide virtually the entire city with potable water while upgrading
outdated wastewater treatment plants, the nearly $300 million public works
project should be finished by 2009 or 2010, according to officials.
Constructed to pipe in groundwater to existing low-income neighborhoods,
the new Conejos-Medanos Aqueduct will be the crown jewel of the project.
Once completed, the project could serve an estimated 345,000 residents of
Ciudad Juarez. Funding for the water systems expansion will come from both
the public and private sectors.
"Today we initiate this project of social transcendence," Gov. Reyes said.
"Today this dream is made possible thanks to the joint efforts and work of
the government, private enterprise and civil society." A much-needed
benefit of the project, Gov. Reyes pledged, would be the elimination of
the nasty-smelling wastewater spills that make life miserable for
residents of neighborhoods like Riberas del Bravo. He called
Conejos-Medanos the most important undertaking of his 3-year-old
administration.
The water for the project will be drawn from the Conejos-Medanos aquifer
that straddles the borderlands. Known as the Mesilla aquifer in the United
States, the vital groundwater source supplies the city of Las Cruces, New
Mexico, and other towns on the US side with drinking water. According to
Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua state officials, 23 new deep wells will be
drilled to provide water for the Mexican side.
Once laid down, miles of new water distribution lines will add a flow of
1,000 liters per second to Ciudad Juarez's water supply, officials
estimate. Manuel Herrera, a spokesman for Ciudad Juarez's Municipal Water
and Sanitation Department, said each city resident currently consumes an
average 280 liters of water every day, a figure which is 120 liters less
than in 2000 when each resident used about 400 liters daily. Herrera
affirmed that a concerted effort is underway to cut down on wasteful water
use.
"We've arrived at these numbers due to the committed work of society and
government," he said. "The results have been very positive."
The Conejos-Medanos project has implications for nearby US border
communities. Greater tapping of the aquifer on the Mexican side will
likely impact future water supplies in fast-growing southern New Mexico,
where rapid development has become a growing political issue. For example,
the November 6 Las Cruces municipal election resulted in the election of
a new mayor and city councilors considered to hold more growth-cautious
positions.
In Mexico, the financing and management of the Conejos-Medanos project is
certain to spark controversy. Standing out in the package is the
concession granted to the Carso Infrastructure and Construction company
(CISCA). Part of Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim's Grupo Carso, CISCA will
invest about $100 million dollars in the project and be in charge of its
construction. In return for the investment, the company was awarded a
ten-year concession by the Chihuahua state government to sell water to
Ciudad Juarez's municipal government. No further details about the
agreement have been publicly released.
Barely unveiled, the Conejos-Medanos project is already drawing critical
commentaries on Ciudad Juarez's Lapolaka.com news website. One writer, for
instance, noted the proximity of the project to sections of Ciudad Juarez
witnessing land speculation and highway construction connected to new
border economic development plans for the planned binational city of
Jeronimo-Santa Teresa on the Chihuahua-Mexico border and Anapra across
from Sunland Park, New Mexico. Mexican officials did not immediately
disclose whether Conejos-Medanos will directly benefit the two envisioned
border growth-zones.
In Mexican cities like Aguascalientes, meanwhile, private management of
water supplies is generating public criticism of high rates and allegedly
bad service. Last year, the Chihuahua City-based Community Technical
Consultants banded together with 13 other farm, consumer and environmental
organizations to launch a campaign in opposition to water privatization in
Chihuahua.
Perhaps in a pre-emptive strike at nascent Conejos-Medanos critics, Gov.
Reyes denied that the arrangement with Slim's Grupo Carso would produce
economic hardships for water users.
"This will not have a direct impact on the people, on the bill they
receive for home water consumption. We all pay water, sewage and
sanitation. This is not going to have a negative repercussion on the
economy of Juarez residents," Gov. Reyes contended. "The (Ciudad Juarez)
water department, with its financial engineering, is going to cover the
cost. The private investment has to be paid. The important thing here is
that the department, with its financial management exercises every year,
will cover this expense without impacting the population."
The Chihuahua state government's high-stakes investment in Conejos-Medanos
was readily evident during the kick-off ceremony held at a desert stopping
on the Jeronimo-Santa Teresa Highway just outside Ciudad Juarez. The event
was attended by Ciudad Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz (no relation to the
governor), Chihuahua State Supreme Court Chief Justice Rodolfo Acosta
Munoz, state elected officials and representatives of the Mexican army.
Promised gifts in return for their attendance, hundreds of residents of
low-income neighborhoods were transported to the ceremony on private
buses.
"This is a project of life," said Uriel Chavez, one of the attendees, told
the governor. "Thanks for thinking about us." Gov. Reyes, in turn, thanked
Carlos Slim for making Conejos-Medanos a reality and invited the magnate
for a toast of water once the project is done.
Sources: El Diario de Juarez, November 23 and 24, 2007. Articles by Luz
del Carmen Sosa. Norte, November 24, 2007. Article by Salvador Castro.
Frontenet.com, November 23, 2007. Articles by Felix Gonzalez.
Lapolaka.com, November 23, 24 and 25, 2007. Ecoamericas.com, December
2006. Frontera NorteSur/Environment, September 2000.
Las-cruces.org/vote007.
Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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