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 MEXICO CITY (AP) - Governments, not private companies, should take the lead in improving public access to safe drinking water, representatives of 148 countries said Wednesday at the end of a forum on improving global water supplies.
The seven-day forum focused much of its attention on the developing world's growing reliance on bottled water bought from private companies. Worldwide, the industry is now worth about $100 billion per year. Anti-corporate forces and other critics say governments should instead be improving tap water supplies.
The forum's declaration, adopted Wednesday, does not specifically mention privatization, but states that "governments have the primary role in promoting improved access to safe drinking water."
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