THE HAGUE - Naked demonstrators protesting against a dam project in the Basque country and proposals to expand private ownership of water supplies disrupted ceremonies here Friday to open a major forum on the world's water crisis.

An undressed couple scrambled onstage as Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, president of the World Water Council, was making a speech to kick off the second World Water Forum.

On their backs were written "Itois SOS - Stop dams," a reference to a scheme in Spain's Basque country, and "Don't privatise water."

They were eventually hustled away by police as a third demonstrator clutched onto a balcony, unfolding a red flag on which was written "No to privatization of water" and flung leaflets into the assembly hall.

Another protestor scaled a side wall of the chamber, shouting "stop privatisation of water."

The forum's president, Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, appealed for the action to stop, saying "This is a forum for normal people, for normal discussions. I ask you to sit down."

The six-day forum gathers 3,000 representatives from all sectors, who will stage hundreds of workshops and round tables on water pollution, conservation and distribution.

In parallel, there will be the World Water Fair, gathering UN agencies, fund managers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and multinationals, which will be given a chance to show off products and answers to water problems.

The climax of the event will be a two-day ministerial meeting, next Tuesday and Wednesday, in which representatives from around 100 countries will adopt a declaration on the future water resources.

Although their pledge will not have legal teeth, organisers hope it will give a vital political impetus to sensible management of water supplies as the planet's population expands and its environment degrades.

A UN-sponsored think-tank, the World Commission on Water for the 21st century, warned earlier this week that a water crisis loomed.

Already, a billion people do not have access to safe water, and two billion do not have proper sanitation. Water resources are badly managed, polluted and increasingly a source of dangerous national rivalry.

To meet the need of providing safe water for the world's population as it rises six billion to eight billion by 2025, governments should turn over water supply to the private sector, which alone has sufficient capital, the panel suggests.

Copyright © 2000 AFP

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