Your municipality is drawing up a contract for a new water concession to be awarded to a private company. There are three important clauses under discussion, concerning:
- Public access to information. Should company documents be confidential, for the regulator only? Or open to the public?
- The formula for determining what prices are allowed. Should this allow for price increases to compensate for a fall in consumption of water? Should it allow for an annual increase in labour costs in line with average earnings? Should there be an upper limit on the profits that can be made?
Environmental obligations. Is the water company responsible for maintaining the purity of water, regardless of the level of pollution from eg farming? Or is the municipality, or the state, held responsible for any worsening in water quality which is not directly caused by the company?
Divide into three groups.
(A)the managers of the multinational water company.
(B) trade unions
(C)consumers
Each team should read the materials and discuss what they would like to see in each clause.
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