Albijon Kurtolli, Kent and East Sussex Socialist Party
What do you get if you’re the head of a water company that is responsible for a mass water shortage in one of England’s largest counties, leaving thousands of homes without water or heating in the heart of winter? If you’re South East Water (SEW) CEO David Hinton, you get the promise of a £400,000 bonus if you remain in your position until 2030, thanks to a long-term service award.
This is the situation Kent is currently facing. I spoke to an individual in the Tunbridge Wells area who told me that he has been without water twice this month; both times lasting well over a week. Many MPs in Kent have called for Hinton’s resignation and Hinton himself has stated he will not attend Tunbridge Wells council’s scrutiny meeting on the 26 January; telling the council’s head of governance the meeting is “happening too soon.”
A failure to prevent this shortage and be held accountable after the fact is a perfect example of why nationalising SEW is necessary. We have had to contend with water company CEOs constantly cutting corners to line their own pockets and make sure their shareholders get ever richer.
It is a complete disgrace that we have raw sewage being pumped into our rivers and seas by these companies. Hinton was the CEO when SEW was handed a record £90 million fine in 2021 for this practice; a practice might I add that SEW is still participating in, and he has been allowed to keep his position. Nationalising the water companies will put the power back into the hands of the people, who will have no incentives to keep us from having clean and usable water. Give power back to the people and keep the wealthy from depriving and contaminating a vital resource we know to be crucial to all life on earth as we know it.
The Socialist Party fights to
- Take the water industry out of the hands of the fat-cat profiteers. Nationalise the entire industry with compensation only paid on the basis of proven need
- Put the environment and our lives before the profits of a few. Stop the dumping of sewage in our rivers and seas. Stop the leakage of water that wastes millions of litres every day
- Take the banks and big industry into democratic public ownership to provide the resources required to plan production to invest in infrastructure like sewage treatment works and water pipes
