BECHTEL VS. BOLIVIA
THE WATER RATE HIKES BY BECHTEL’S
BOLIVIAN COMPANY (AGUAS DEL TUNARI)
THE REAL NUMBERS

BECHTEL’S FALSE STATEMENTS

To this day Bechtel Enterprises denies that its Bolivian subsidiary, Aguas Del Tunari, instituted a major rate increase in Cochabamba in January 2001. A spokeswoman for Bechtel CEO, Riley Bechtel, Gail Apps claimed as late as recently as January 2002 that:

“For the poorest people in Cochabamba rates went up little, barely 10 percent.”

Bechtel also claims that any increase in water bills higher than that was the result of increased water usage, not an increase in water rates:

“Unfortunately, water bills sometimes went up a lot more than rates. That's because as Aguas del Tunari improved service, increasing the hours of water service and the pressure at which it was delivered, people used a lot more water.”

The facts, as displayed in the charts below, tell the real story, drawn directly from the computer records of Cochabamba’s public water company, SEMAPA.

THE FACTS

In response to Bechtel’s claims, SEMAPA ran a computer analysis on water rates, using actual rate figures for Bechtel’s company, Aguas del Tunari. The analysis used actual water consumption figures for April to December 2001, and calculated two sets of water bills. The first set uses the rates in effect before Bechtel took over and the second set calculates water bills using the actual rate increases imposed by Bechtel’s company in January 2000. Analyzing the data in this way allows for a clean comparison of water bills based on the exact same levels of water consumption, not increased use as Bechtel claims.

(Source: SEMAPA computer records)
(Methodology: SEMAPA used its actual billing records for April-December 2001 for water use and charges and applied the rate hikes imposed by Aguas del Tunari in 2000 based on the same level of water consumption per customer. The water rates charged by SEMAPA during this time are the same used prior to Aguas Del Tunari’s price hikes.)

THE EFFECTS OF BECHTEL’S DEPARTURE – $3.5 MILLION SAVED BY COCHABAMBA FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES

What has been the effect of Bechtel’s forced departure from Bolivia? In 2001, as a result of Bechtel’s leaving and the rollback of rates by the public water company, SEMAPA, Cochabamba families and businesses have saved nearly $3.5 million – money in local pockets instead of in the treasury of Bechtel’s subsidiary. Here’s what that savings means, family for family, business by business.

(Source: SEMAPA computer records)
(Methodology: Based on SEMAPA's analysis from the first chart above, The Democracy Center extrapolated out the data from April to December 2001 into figures for the entire year. These savings totals by rate category were then divided by the actual number of water users in each category at the end of the year. The minimum wage calculation is based on the current legal minimum wage of $67 monthly.)

A Note About Water User Categories:
Under the pricing system used by both SEMAPA and Aguas del Tunari, the poorest category (R2) includes homes that may have an indoor toilet, perhaps an outside water tap, but no indoor shower and. Typically these households survive off selling vegetables or other items in the street and work well below the minimum wage of $67 per month. The next group of households (R3) are still poor by any standard. In addition to an indoor toilet they may have an indoor shower and perhaps a kitchen faucet. Typically these are households headed by workers who earn somewhere between $60 to $80 per month. Once a household has more than one bathroom it is considered in a higher category (R-4), not necessarily affluent, but not poor either.
Source: Rosario Ayoroa, SEMAPA’s current chief of pricing

Write To Riley Bechtel Today!
Bechtel Vs. Bolivia
The Democracy Center’s Letter to Riley Bechtel
Riley Bechtel’s Response
The Democracy Center’s Response To Riley Bechtel
Cochabamba’s Water Bills From Bechtel
Bechtel’s Legal Action Against Bolivia
The Bolivian Water Revolt