El-Sayed slams Detroit for water shut-offs
Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate for Michigan governor, issued the following statement regarding threats by Detroit officials to shut off water to more than 17,000 homes.
“There is no life without water. And yet, the City of Detroit shuts off water to thousands of Detroiters every year. Next month, up to 17,000 homes, countless Michiganders could lose water access. This is a public health issue and a human rights disaster.
As Detroit’s Health Director, I fought Mike Duggan on this wrongheaded policy. Michigan needs a Governor that will make access to water a priority.
In a state that is surrounded by 21% of the world’s water, every Michigander deserves access to clean, drinkable water.
That means we cannot allow water shutoffs to continue in a state that has suffered the greatest water crisis in Flint – or a state that allows corporations like Nestle to put their profits over the well-being of Detroiters and other Michiganders.
Our water platform guarantees every household in Michigan the basic amount of water needed to drink, clean, cook, and bathe – a ‘living standard’ – which will put a moratorium on water shutoffs.”
– Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic Candidate for Michigan Governor
Abdul has previously called for a moratorium on water shutoffs and has released a comprehensive water policy which can be found here. Detroit water shutoffs made international headlines in 2014 when United Nations officials criticized the policy.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is running for governor to make state government work for all Michiganders, and not just the privileged few. Abdul is a Rhodes scholar, physician and public health expert who, as Detroit’s health commissioner, launched a program to ensure every child who needed one got a free pair of glasses. Abdul is running on a platform of bold, progressive ideas to address gaping inequality between the rich and poor, including raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, passing Medicare for All to guarantee health care as a right, and making college tuition free for families earning less than $150,000 a year.
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