"In this country of 42 million, nearly 12 million people have no access to clean water and four million have limited access, i.e. to a public faucet"
BOGOTA (IPS) - Sixty environmental, indigenous, labour and social organisations in Colombia are carrying out a campaign for a constitutional amendment that would make access to clean water a fundamental right.
The proponents of the initiative have already fulfilled the first legal requirement by collecting some 135,000 signatures, equivalent to five out of every 1,000 registered voters.
But they now face a bigger challenge.
Once the signatures are certified as valid by the RegistradurÃa Nacional del Estado Civil (national registry), the organisations will have to gain the support of 1.5 million Colombians in order for Congress to call a referendum in which voters would decide in favour of or against the proposed constitutional amendment. ... Full story
