What’s happening in Jackson, Miss., where residents remain under a boil-water advisory after having little to no access to safe water for all of last week, is horrifying. If it weren’t happening in a poor city with a majority Black population, it would be getting the 24/7 news coverage it deserves.
One part of the story that definitely hasn’t been getting enough coverage is the role a multi-billion-dollar corporation played in exacerbating the crisis.
As reported by Judd Legum, Jackson signed a contract in 2013 with a corporation called Siemens to upgrade the city’s water meters and billing system. The multinational conglomerate based in Germany promised there was “no risk” in the deal and that the upgrade would generate $120 million in “guaranteed savings” over the first 15 years.
According to an eventual lawsuit filed by the city, those savings never materialized. Siemens and its web of subcontractors allegedly did shoddy work installing the meters and implementing the new system. The lawsuit claims that “[m]ore than 20,000 water meters were installed incorrectly or were unable to transmit meter readings to the system.”
— source inthepublicinterest.org | Donald Cohen | Sep 9, 2022