DETROIT, October 20 (RIA Novosti) – Detroit’s water shutoff is proof that local authorities do not value the city’s residents as human beings, Valerie Jean, People's Water Board Coalition member in Detroit, told RIA Novosti.
"Watching them shut off my entire neighborhood, it showed they didn't really value us as humans and they didn't really care if we lived or died," Jean told RIA Novosti on Sunday, adding that her 86-year-old neighbor spent 11 days without water, and in the end was nearly dead.
"She could not even get up out of her chair, she could not flush her toilet, as she could not carry water in it, and did not want anybody to see her mess. She became so stressed out that she could hardly move, her house smelt. She did not want anybody to come into her home. That's what water shutoffs look like," Jean added.
Jean was one of hundreds of Detroiters who gathered Sunday night at the Wayne County Community College in Detroit to testify to the UN Special Rapporteurs about the water shutoffs in the city, the impact on low-income groups and their human rights, and the need for adequate housing.
The meeting was organized by local community groups in response to the city’s water shutoffs. Many attended with the hope that the UN representatives would be able to change the situation.
"I came out to tell the UN what we have been experiencing and saw with our own eyes. I came to let them know what it looks like when children can't brush their teeth, when they can't go and get water out of the faucet," Jean asserted.
The panel was told that there are cases where children have to come to school at 5 a.m. to take showers and that teachers buy the students water on the regular basis. The representatives listened to numerous stories from people whose water was shut off when could not afford to pay for it due to various reasons. In many cases, water in entire neighborhoods gets shut off. Some shelters in Detroit do not have any water and homeless people asking for a cup of water are often ignored.
Public affairs spokesman for Detroit’s Water and Sewerage Department, Gregory Eno told RIA Novosti on Friday that the water shutoffs in Detroit from January 1 through September 30 encompass 27,148 commercial and residential properties.
A declining population, increasing unemployment, and an estimated $18 billion in debt have contributed to Detroit filing for bankruptcy in July 2013. The next bankruptcy hearing is scheduled for October 20.
