nestle

Having access to clean, safe water is not a human right, according to Nestle boss Peter Brabeck-Letmathe.

In a video interview, Brabeck explained how he believes that the water supply should be privatised and that those who don’t have access to water, should not be part of the consideration.

According to the former CEO and now Chairman of the largest food product manufacturer in the world, corporations should own every drop of water on the planet — and that people should be forced to pay for it.

He added that his main concern was for the sole benefit of his corporation – Nestle.

Water — which comes out of the earth freely — is necessary for the survival of all life forms on the planet. By making water a commodity our society will move into a dystopia where corporations decide who gets to live and who gets to die by rationing the most plentiful resource on the planet.

He added that other natural foodstuffs such as organic food are not beneficial to health. It is not the first time that the corporation has been criticised over its stance on water. In a report by Corporate Watch, it was revealed that Nestle and former CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe have a long history of illegally extracting water and causing environmental damage in poorer nations.

The report states: “Nestlé production of mineral water involves the abuse of vulnerable water resources. In the Serra da Mantiqueira region of Brazil, home to the “circuit of waters” park whose groundwater has a high mineral content and medicinal properties, over-pumping has resulted in depletion and long-term damage.”

But Nestle has been no stranger to controversy. In 1977 millions of people around the globe boycotted Nestle due to their promotion of baby milk formula in developing countries. They undertook a widespread marketing campaign in countries such as Ethiopia for example, and other African nations which created a stigma against mothers who breastfed their children. Mothers who chose to breastfeed their children were then sidelined and ostracised.

In 2002, when Ethiopia was at the height of i9ts famine where thousands of people died, Nestle demanded that the country repay $6 million that it owed to the corporation.  Nestlé only backed down from its demand after more than 8,500 people complained via e-mail to the company about its treatment of the Ethiopian government.

It also came under fire after a 2010 documentary The Dark Side of Chocolate revealed that the corporation purchases cocoa beans from Ivorian plantations that use child slave labour. The children are usually 12 to 15 years old, and some are trafficked from nearby countries. The children were subject to regular beatings, and in some cases, sexual abuse.

A year prior to the documentary, a joint police operation conducted by INTERPOL and Ivorian law enforcement officers resulted in the rescue of 54 children and the arrest of eight people involved in the illegal recruitment of children.

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