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| "Laissez-les boire du lac." |
The bankrupt city of Detroit is cutting the water supply to households behind on their bills. Nearly half the cities residents fall into that category. Delinquent customers owe Detroit Water and Sewage Department
about $118 million and the Department wants to increase shutoffs to 3,000 a month. Shut-offs began at the end of March with little publicity. A UN panel has condemned the disconnections as
a violation of basic human rights*. Many residents accuse the city of sinister motives. They say the city wants to privatize water supply and drive low income people out of Detroit to make way for gentrification and
corporate profits. Debt associated with the water department amounts to $5.7bn or one-third of the debt that pushed the one-time "Motor City" into federal bankruptcy court. Continued shut-offs could lead to a health emergency which is no less ironic than it is heartless considering Detroit sits adjacent to Lake Erie the tenth largest fresh water lake in the world. However, Lake Erie water is far from potable; water quality has improved since the 1960s. The department says collections are up 45-50% compared to previous years. Nevertheless, bankruptcy judge Steven Rhodes said in court the shutoffs were generating bad publicity and told the department to offer more repayment options. Water officials are due back in federal court on Monday.
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| "No justice, no peace!" |
Residents are fighting back. Community water stations have emerged, and on Friday protestors blocked the entrance to Homrich, Inc. the city's contractor for shutting-off water connections. The city is paying the demolition company $6m for its services. An earlier direct action led to the arrest of ten residents. It is only a matter of time before city police use force to break up water demonstrations. Organizers are going door to door to connect people to crisis resources. Canadians will be sending a "water convoy" to Detroit later this month to help Detroiters needing water in what they call a solidarity action. Detroit is now 83% black and many of those residents are impoverished, so even if they wanted to pay for their water,
they cannot afford the rates. The city council recently voted to increase water rates 8.7%. The average monthly bill for a family of four is $75, almost double the national average.
*Those basic human rights include the right to employment expressed in Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and they take them; They cheat an owner of his house, a man of his inheritance. Micah 2:2