Feb 10, 2003
Water and politics in the fall of Suharto
Two powerful multinationals deftly used the World Bank and a compliant dictatorship to split control of a major city's waterworks.
Two powerful multinationals deftly used the World Bank and a compliant dictatorship to split control of a major city's waterworks.
Politically connected families and private companies split Manila in two to share turf. At first, the two companies brought miracles by bringing running water to thousands of poor people who never had it. Now the miracle has faded as one company bails out, leaving behind enormous debts.
France is the birthplace of modern water privatization, but its leading companies have been rocked by scandals and allegations of influence-peddling.
The explosive growth of three private water utility companies in the last 10 years raises fears that mankind may be losing control of its most vital resource to a handful of monopolistic corporations.
An arms trader who admitted to breaking a U.N. arms embargo also claimed ties to French intelligence, the Iranian government, and the since-bought-out oil company, Elf Aquitaine.
While Africa's wars have brought untold misery to millions, some have seen conflict in the region as a business opportunity.
The Chinese consume almost one out of every three cigarettes manufactured worldwide, or 1.6 trillion out of about 5.2 trillion cigarettes consumed annually. And their consumption grows about 2 percent each year. It's no wonder, then, that in the early 1990s British American Tobacco considered China "key to BATCo's longterm success," according to an internal company document.
A year-long investigation by the ICIJ shows that tobacco company officials at BAT, Philip Morris, and R.J. Reynolds have worked closely with companies and individuals directly connected to organized crime in Hong Kong, Canada, Colombia, Italy and the United States.
In its search to maintain and enlarge cigarette markets and corporate revenue, British American Tobacco exploited a sophisticated network of smuggling routes throughout Asia.