In a small village in Liberia, a West African country devastated by two decades of civil war, local surfers are trying to change their fate and that of their village by creating a surf club. Five years after the documentary “Water Get No Enemy,” surfer and filmmaker Arthur Bourbon returns to Liberia to reconnect with his friends and document the evolution of surfing in the village.
Competition and Markets Authority allows water monopolies to charge customers more, again, despite them syphoning billions off customers.
Well isn’t this ironic?
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which is supposed to represent customers by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour is allowing water companies Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South East Water, Southern Water, and Wessex Water to raise bills.
“The group has provisionally decided to allow 21% – an additional £556m in revenue – of the total £2.7bn the five firms requested.
“This extra funding is expected to result in an average increase of 3% in bills… in addition to the 24% increase for customers of these companies expected as part of Ofwat’s original determination.”
Wessex household and business customers faced the largest increase – on top of the rise agreed by Ofwat – of 5%, leaving their average annual bills at £622.
South East and Southern customers will see rises of 4% and 3%. Anglian and Northumbrian’s increase by 1%.
The companies appealed Ofwat’s decision and the CMA, somewhat ridiculously, has upheld it.
Chair of the CMA’s independent panel, Kirstin Baker, said: “We’ve found that water companies’ requests for significant bill increases, on top of those allowed by Ofwat, are largely unjustified.
But then still allowed rises…
Water companies have been allowed to act as regional monopolies since privatisation with customers having no choice.
They have consistently stripped profits and paid shareholders and fat cats despite polluting rivers and seas at will through poorly thought out and policed discharge licenses.
Proof of damage to health and environment of sewage pollution has been proven and presented since the early 90’s by Surfers Against Sewage another groups.
With a captive audience and a necessity of service – water (!) and sewage (!) companies have taken advantage of a perfect business model.
Government watchdogs like Offwat and now the CMA have enable them and been complicit in the great water rip off.
Mikey February somehow pulls energy out of nowhere. Every wave he catches looks smooth, effortless, and full of style. There’s just something about the way he connects with the ocean — it’s like he’s in sync with it. And honestly, it drives me crazy that I can’t pull it off like he does.
The Rip Curl Eddie Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau 2025-2026 invitees and alternates for this season have been announced.
The Eddie is committed to running only in the heaviest conditions, with a competition window from December 7 to March 6, 2025. For the event to be called on, waves must consistently reach at least 20+ feet (Hawaiian scale), with ideal conditions pushing 30-40 feet. The Eddie has only run 10 times in the last 40 years.
“The Eddie Aikau Foundation analyzed the results from the last two EDDIES that ran in 2023 and 2024. We incorporated additional selection criteria from that data. We conducted a lot of research into the history and experiences of the big wave surfers under consideration,” reads a statement issued to the press. “We have a mix of surfers from Hawaii, the mainland and international as well that we feel will represent the spirit and legacy of Eddie Aikau,” said Linda Ipsen, the President of the Eddie Aikau Foundation.”
“We are grateful to be partnering with The Eddie Aikau Foundation for a second year to bring this iconic event to life,” said James Taylor, Rip Curl’s General Manager of Marketing. “Supporting events with rich history and cultural significance is core to Rip Curl’s DNA, and this could not be more true than with THE EDDIE.”
The opening ceremony will take place on December 5, 2025, at Waimea Bay Beach Park. After that, as they say, the Bay calls the day.
The list includes past winners Landon McNamara, Luke Shepardson, John John Florence, Kelly Slater, and Ross Clarke-Jones.
Nic Von Rupp from Portugal has made the invite list, Tom Lowe, and Othmane Choufani (Morocco) have made the alternate list.
