 Opponents argue this subsidy program can act as a regressive policy and actually hurt the poor because a false assumption is made that high consumption is positively correlated to high income.On the contrary, poor families do not have access to efficient methods of using water in cooking, cleaning, and washing.Investment Since the sector was prepared for self-sufficiency, investment increased significantly from an annual average of about US$ 100m in the period 1965 to 1989 to an annual average of US$ 242m in the period 1990 to 1998, when the first company was privatized.