Due to the severe water problem in Detroit, where the city threatens to cut off water to 45,000 people that aren’t paying their bills, non-governmental groups are calling on the UN to intervene in the problem.
It is certainly a tell-tale sign of the times when the US can’t take care of one of its own isn’t it?
Of course, conditions in Detroit are horrific and nobody wants to see families going without water – but take a look at what is happening here. As more cities and states go under when all the paper printing stops working, and it will like it historically always has, will we be calling on the UN for help more and more? Where does that stop? One fears it won’t until dependence upon the UN is achieved.
The United States should be strong enough to take care of its own, should it not? But the fact is that traditionally governmental take overs happen by problems being caused that are so large that people really don’t have a choice but to accept the ‘proposed solution’.
The UN needs to intervene in the affairs of the United States on the level of providing people with water?
If this actually happens and the UN starts ‘coming to our aid’ we will be witnessing the turn of a very dark page. There’s only so many pages in the book – and we are losing time everyday to recover our republic.
As thousands of people in Detroit go without water, and the city moves to cut off services to tens of thousands more, concerned organizations have taken the unusual step of appealing to the United Nations to intervene and protect the “human right to water.”
“After decades of policies that put businesses and profits ahead of the public good, the city now has a major crisis on its hands,” said Maude Barlow, founder of Blue Planet Project and board chair of Food & Water Watch, in a statement. “By denying water service to thousands, Detroit is violating the human right to water.”
The Submission to the Special Rapporteur was released Wednesday by the Detroit People’s Water Board, the Blue Planet Project, the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and Food & Water Watch.
It calls for the “state of Michigan and U.S. government to respect the human right to water and sanitation” and for shut-offs to be halted, services restored, and water to be made accessible and affordable.
The report comes on the heels of the Detroit’s city council’s Tuesday approval of an 8.7 percent increase in water rates, part of a long-standing trend that, according to Food & Water Watch, has seen prices increase 119 percent over the past decade.
This rate hike follows an announcement in March by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department that it would start turning off water for accounts that are past due. According to a late May Director’s Report from the DWSD, there were “44,273 shut-off notices sent to customers in April 2014” alone, resulting in “3,025 shut-offs for nonpayment, and additional collections of $400,000.”
Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, who was appointed to power by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder in March 2013, has aggressively pursued privatization and austerity measures across the city. “Nothing is off the chopping block, including water utilities, which are being considered for regionalization, sale, lease, and/or public private partnership and are currently subject to mediation by a federal district judge,” reads the report.
“The Detroit People’s Water Board fears that authorities see people’s unpaid water bills as a ‘bad debt’ and want to sweeten the pot for a private investor by imposing even more of the costs of the system on those least able to bear them,” the report continues.
Residents say the mass cut-off of this vital service is especially unjust in a city already struggling with high unemployment, a poverty rate near 40 percent, and a foreclosure crisis that has devastated and displaced people across the city, hitting Detroit’s African American community especially hard.
“When delinquent corporate water lines are still running without collection of funds, it demonstrates a level of intentional disparity that devalues the lives of the people struggling financially,” said Lila Cabbil, President Emeritus of the Rosa Parks Institute, which is part of the People’s Water Board. “Where is our compassion? Where is our humanity?”
The u.n couldn’t wipe their own ass’s, nor would they pull out a dollor of their pockets to pay the millions owed to N.Y.C. for parking tickets what kind of help do u expect from those free loading scumbags.
They wouldn’t have a problem if they deported all the Muslims in Detroit.
No!
All what we need is a president who truly LOVES his country … not one that’s trying to destroy it.
no – pay your bills
shouldn’t be paying bills for people who can’t manage money– maybe trim the freebies they’re handing out
Muncan forst de romfolkene som ikke t fortelle om bakgrunnen sin.
I purchased my Ford Focus on 2013 brand new, the first new car I have been able to purchase in 30 years. It has broken down with transmission and clutch issues FOUR TIMES!!
The customer service had been a nightmare. My only hope is a very nice woman I am working with in the corporate office.
I just do not understand how a company like Ford can continue to do business when they do not assist when there is an issue — it’s not fair and I deserve better.
So I got a call from “James” Supervisor of Tia– I was very calm and explained my frustration. I was told that if I sent in the receipt for the tow – I would be reimbursed within 7-10 business days. He further explained that he would need to contact the dealership for them to cut the check. I am a bit mystified as to why he could not just email the dealership to authorize the ck be cut but I will get an answer to that when I speak to my Corporate contact.
As for my car — I was told absolutely the most absurd thing so far in this nightmare.
I was told if I wanted to be made whole from the car — I should contact the BBB (number on the back of my owners manual) because “it ain’t gonna happen on this end here; ain’t gonna happen.” That is verbatim what I was told.
I kept my cool (thank you for the reminder J Brian Cody) took his contact info and emailed it directly to my contact in the Corporate office. I’m not sure which stunned me more – that “James” believes the answer to this nightmare is on the back of my “owners manual” or the terminology “ain’t gonna happen on this end; ain’t gonna happen here”. OMG!!!!!
Again if this is the front line of Ford’s customer service — it’s shocking. My guess is that the recording before you speak to anyone that states “all calls are recorded for training purposes” can’t possibly be true– or James and Tia would have been pulled in for a bit more “training.”
What I can say is the woman at the Corporate Office was/is very nice and I felt as if she really heard my issue. I emailed her and left her a voicemail. Once I hear back we will go from there.