Posted: Thursday January 3, 2008

Among a pool of competitive international water companies including Veolia, Salcon and Ranhill, Manila Water was shortlisted to move on to the next stage of the bidding for the water project in Haldia, West Bangal, India.

8 February 2008, Kathmandu, Nepal 	

 Water and Energy Users' Federation – Nepal (WAFED) strongly opposes the most recent instance of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) duplicity in the continuing saga of forcing Nepal into its trap of privatizing Kathmandu Valley water supply and its management, an objective it has been pursuing single-mindedly for the last many years. A press release issued by the ADB in Manila today maintained that a new private sector manager will be recruited parallel to the construction of the 26 kilometer long Melamchi River diversion tunnel to Kathmandu. It has also reaffirmed its misconceived claim that Melamchi Water Supply Project is the only available option for Kathmandu as the existing alternative water sources such as shallow wells, public taps, rainwater, tankers, or bottled water are expensive.

In a move to further strengthen the water justice campaign in the region, a total of 21 participants gathered for the South Asia Right to Water Capacity Building Workshop on 16 October 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, organized by the Water for the People Network.