Double-edged sword: ‘TNCs work against interests of developing countries’

Support local culture in a bid to utilise resources, violate human rights.

KARACHI:

Transnational corporations (TNCs) and international lenders are pressing Pakistan to privatise national organisations as well as land, water and food sources on the pretext of attracting investments.

The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank and multinational companies, particularly belonging to the US, are putting pressure on the government to launch a mass privatisation drive.

“They want to change government’s policies according to their will for investment, which is against human rights and the law of land,” claimed Society for Environmental Actions, Reconstruction and Humanitarian Response (SEARCH) Pakistan Executive Director Waheed Jamali while talking to PPI.

“This is going on in other developing countries as well and is likely to increase in Pakistan. It will affect agriculture farming, water sources and several other sectors of life,” he said.

He asked the nation and its people to be aware of such designs, particularly the suggestions pertaining to labour and investment policies.

Jamali said bottled water business was an example in that connection that had deprived people of clean drinking water. “Water is being sold to corporations, while people are struggling to find drinking water in Karachi and other mega cities,” he said.

“People in deserted and barren areas have been compelled to drink contaminated water that causes diseases among them.”

He pointed out that TNCs represented at least 75% of the world’s economy and were out to control incomes in developing countries such as Pakistan.

These organisations supported cultural activities in Pakistan in a bid to develop great influence over the population. Alongside supporting the culture, they would violate human rights by creating inhuman working conditions and promoting child labour, he alleged.

According to him, many corporations are complicit in violating human rights and the environment. As the free market continues to push forward the global economy, holding corporations accountable for their poor practices becomes increasingly difficult. Unfortunately, corporations are working harder than ever to cover abuses instead of preventing them.

He said reports of human rights violations by corporations operating globally had raised concerns about the effectiveness of existing oversight measures. “Financial groups that speculate in the oil market and large private corporations that control the grain market are responsible for the global food and oil crises.”

He said most of the global trade was controlled by a few hundred corporations. Many of these mega-corporations are economically larger than some nations and thus it is difficult for developing countries to regulate them.

He said the US and European corporations in China were trying to block a new law that would improve working conditions as well as increase power and protection of workers.

Jamali pointed out that despite China’s strong economic growth, most workers there lived on the edge of poverty, earning very little and working in appalling conditions.

He said governance and policies of multilateral institutions (IMF, WB and the WTO) had long served corporate interests, adding in most countries, governments were at the service of corporate interests and against people.

“Pakistan government should adopt a positive approach and take immediate action to stop violation of labour laws by TNCs by averting the pressure aimed at consuming country’s resources like water and land for nurturing their businesses,” Jamali concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2014.

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