Oh FFS: Detroit activists call for UN help as city shuts off water for thousands

[TFOGGER]

Detroit has too much of some things – stray dogs, abandoned houses – and not enough of others, such as residents who pay their water bills.
The latest sign of Detroit’s decline came from the city’s water department, when it said in March it would begin shutting off water for up to 3,000 homes and businesses a week in an attempt to stop the utility from sliding even further into debt.
The announcement sparked outrage among activists groups, who say the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is going after the city’s most vulnerable citizens to shore up its bottom line.
Now those groups have called on the United Nations to intervene. In a letter sent to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation last week, local nonprofit Detroit People’s Water Board, Food and Water Watch and Canada-based Blue Planet Project pleaded for the world body to weigh in on the shut-offs.
"What we see is a violation of the human right to water," said Meera Karunananthan, an international campaigner with the Blue Planet Project. "The U.S. has international obligations in terms of people’s right to water, and this is a blatant violation of that right. We’re hoping the U.N. will put pressure on the federal government and the state of Michigan to do something about it."

Wow...the FSA is appealing to the UN...

[vossman]

Sounds like a good plan to me.

[merl]

Fine, the UN can pay their water bills.

[Great-Kazoo]

Fine, the UN can pay their water bills.

With what, KRONY Bucks ?

[merl]

With what, KRONY Bucks ?

Maybe the UN can come put in a public well in the center of Detroit. The people petitioning can spend 6 hours a day waiting in line to use it.

[Great-Kazoo]

Maybe the UN can come put in a public well in the center of Detroit. The people petitioning can spend 6 hours a day waiting in line to use it.

I like the way you think.


#thirstyface

[Bailey Guns]

"most vulnerable citizens"...liberal-speak for deadbeats who don't pay their bills. "...a violation of the human right to water." Really?

[Bailey Guns]

I like the way you think.


#thirstyface

That pup has an animal right to an ice cold beer. Fetch, Kazoo. Good boy!

[cstone]

Visit Detroit...See the future!

I don't expect the Canadians will be sending any humanitarian relief or peace keepers to Detroit any time soon.

http://www.canadians.org/blogs/meera-karunananthan

[BPTactical]

My SIL lives in a Detroit suburb, River Rouge. About six years ago she called my wife crying and whining that their power was about to be shut off. The wife asks her how much they owed.
$7,000!
She then asked her how long it had been since they paid anything.
5 years!
WTF?
How do you go for 5 years and not pay your electric bill?

I think this plea tells us what the population of Detroit is, a slew of immigrants that came from whatever shithole and the UN was the only source of government.



But if the UN responds to this it sets a very scary precedent. How long until a law enforcement agency pleas for their help collecting firearms?