WATER SCARCITY: REAL CHALLENGE TO YEMENIS

By: Mahmoud Assamiee

SANA'A, May 11 (Saba)- The water problem in the two Yemeni provinces of Taiz and Lahj is the oldest across the country. It started in early 1990s in Taiz city and in early 1970s in rural areas. Now the problem has changed from bad to worse and become unbearable to Taizi people.

People say they are supplied by public water only a day every month and sometimes a day every forty days. In this day, some of them are able to fill their water tanks installed on the roofs of their houses and canisters which are many in every house's kitchen and bathroom.

But these tanks and canisters do not cover families' needs of water for the whole month; some of them run out of water after one week and others after two. After their supply of water finished, they return to water trucks for supply.

Supplying with water truck costs families more money and this makes heavy burden on people of limited income like employees whose salaries already are not enough for feeding their families.

Saleh Naser, employee lives in a rented house with his family in Ashamasi district in Taiz, says supplying with water is a great concern to him and costing him nearly one third of his salary.

"Every month, I pay YR eight thousands (nearly USD 37) four thousand for Water and Sanitation National Authority and four for owners of water truck. This is a heavy burden on me as employee receiving only YR 30 thousands (equal nearly USD 130) a month," said Naser.

Poor families suffering are more intensive. They force their children out to fetch water from mosques and collect it even from what is leaking from water trucks supplying nearby houses.

Sami Ahmad, 8, the eldest son of his family living in a rented house in Ashamasi district says bringing water from mosques and every where has become his daily duty to help a poor family save the money given to water truck.

"I am the eldest son of my family. Everyday I bring water from the mosques and follow up every water truck in the neighborhood to collect water leaking from the truck and bring it to the house," said Ahmad.

Inside Ahmad's house there are so many canisters he always fills through his daily duty as water fetcher. Even there are some canisters filled with water inside the house, Ahmad does not lose a chance of getting water for storing it inside the kitchen and the bathroom for securing the family's supply with water.

In Taiz countryside, water scarcity is sharper and the suffering is even worse for girls and women who used to get water from a far away wells or the bottom of high mountains.

Randa Qayed 15, from Same' countryside, gets up early in the morning to bring water from a cistern more than one kilo meter away from her house. Shed used to carry canister of 20 liters on her head and crosses difficult and very narrow way on the side of series of hills leading to the cisterns. "Every day I go to this well six times to bring enough water for my family," she said.

But Hanan Hizam and Bushra Aklan, who live on the top of a very high mountain in another village in Same' district suffer more than Randa. Every day they cross long way and then go down this high mountain to bring the water from a stream located on the bottom and climb up the mountain again with 20 liter canisters carry on their heads.

"Our only suffering in this area is water scarcity. We sometimes break our legs or arms while descending or climbing up this difficult mountain which lacks even foot road," said Bushra.

They called on government to help them with a water project that may ease their sufferings and a road they can go through safely.

Commenting on water scarcity in Taiz, Director of National Water and Sanitation Authority, Taiz branch Fuad al-Jaberi said there are several reasons behind water depletion in Taiz. The major reason is fast population growth and horizontal construction in the city besides the limited water resources in the governorate.

" Taiz city depends on three water basins for supply; Haimah, Adhabab Valley and Hawban," said al-Gaberi . "These three basins provide the city with 17000 cubic meters daily and the real need of the people city is 56,000 cubic meters daily with the shortage gab of 26,000 cubic meters."

On the future solutions of water scarcity in Taiz, al-Jaberi the government has a plan to create a desalination unit during the period 2013-2015 from Mocha, the nearest sea to the city.

According to him, the unit will provide Taiz city with approximately 50,000 cubic meters a day. With this supply, the individual daily share of water will increase from 30 liters currently to 60 liters a day.

Successful but costing solution

Because of the Sharpness of water scarcity in Taiz, Hayel Saeed Group of Companies constructed the first desalination unit in Mocha coast to supply their factories and companies with clean water.

The water is desalinated in the Mocha and transported ready to Taiz city by big water trucks, each one carries 50,000 liters. Fifty trucks come to the unit daily to carry ready desalinated water to Taiz.

According to Ahmad Abdo, the second director of the Mocha Desalination Unit, the unit is desalinating now 4500 cubic meter daily, the group consumes half of it and the rest quantities are sold to factories and other beneficiaries from the city.

But the price of the cubic meter is costing and transportation costs are double. "The price of the cubic meter here in the unit is YR 400 and it reaches the beneficiaries in Taiz by YR 1200 which means double of the price," said Abdo.

Ahmad believes that also that desalinating water from the sea will be the only choice to Yemen to solve the problem of water scarcity even if they are in remote areas like Sana'a.

Lahj

Lahj governorates, located between Taiz and Aden, started to suffer of water scarcity. Some districts, which are located in the border with Taiz suffer the sharpest crisis. With annual rainfall level is only 50 millimeters, the governorates is considered the worst of water scarcity across the country.

Al-Qabaita district which was the southern border of Taiz before it joined Lahj in 1999 is the most affected area by water crisis in the area. Some villagers in the district have left their houses after drought started threatening the people's needs of water. They left to cities and they can not even return to spend summer holidays.

The problem of water depletion started in early 1980s when people were depending on wells, cisterns and water tanks harvested from rain as sources for drinking water and home usage.

Short time ago, people were collecting water from far away areas where wells were available. They used to bring it by donkeys and cars and by foot in the worst cases. After these wells dried up, people went for more distant areas depending on cars and water trucks which cost much money; the price of the one gallon has reached YR 100.

The drought in these areas has affected also animal wealth, which increased poverty level among locals. According to Abdo al-Qubati, charitable activist interested in water, girls have left their schools for bringing water and resulted in increasing levels of illiteracy among female.

Water crisis is not limited only in al-Qabaitah, it is extended to districts of Tor-al-Baha, al-Nusaimiah, al-Milah and Yafe'.

According to General Manager of Water and Sanitation National Authority in Lahj Adel Assubaihi, there are several reasons behind water scarcity in the governorate; few rainfall, lack of water dams and no ground water.

"Random digging for wells is another reason for draught in the governorate," he added.

Although the province does not grow qat, the trees which consumes greatest part of ground water, there are 2500 wells dug for only house use. However, the governorate is famous of Mango cultivation which consumes also large quantities of water.

Over future projects to solve the crisis, Assubaihi said there are only few projects like digging ten wells in the capital of the governorate to help solve the problem in the suburbs. But he did not talk about future solutions to the problem in the most affected areas.

"It is difficult to carry out projects in al-Qabaita district because of rough areas and due of lack of water resources (like ground water for digging wells)," said Assubaihi.

But General Manager of National Water Resources Authority branches of Lahj, Aden and Abyan Abdul-Aziz Mahyob, said there are plans to find water resources to help solve the problem in these affected areas.

"Harvesting rain water will be one of the important solutions," he said.