YEMEN: Drought displaces thousands in mountainous northwest
Pastor Dale Morgan
YEMEN: Drought displaces thousands in mountainous northwest*
05 May 2008 13:10:14 GMT
Source: IRIN
SANAA, 5 May 2008 (IRIN) - Drought has caused the displacement of
thousands of people over the past 10 months from mountainous villages in
al-Mahwit Governorate, some 113km northwest of Sanaa city, officials
have said.
Hufash, one of al-Mahwit's nine districts, has been hit by drought over
the past six months. Hufash includes 12 localities and is home to 40,000
people, according to the 2004 population census.
Abdul-Hamid al-Ashabi, head of Hufash's local council, told IRIN on 4
May that thousands of people had abandoned their homes and moved to the
main cities. "The area is suffering from acute water shortages and
drought. People depend on springs and rain. Rain has not fallen for
almost a year," he said.
Some of those who have moved to cities have rented houses and others
have moved in with relatives. Those who have moved to the valleys have
erected huts. At present, it is difficult to assess how far they are
overburdening local resources and services, said al-Ashabi, adding that
most of the displaced could fend for themselves and required little
assistance from the government.
Mohammed al-Aqabi, head of Hufash's Education Department, said the
displacements had started in March.
"Hufash District is a series of mountains that cannot store water at
all... People depend mainly on rainwater," he told IRIN. He said locals
got water from a nearby valley some 19km away.
"They walk several kilometres to get a few litres of water a day. They
just use water for drinking and 'wudu' [Muslim ablutions]. They cannot
take a shower or wash their clothes. To do that they have to go to
al-Mahwit city, two hours by car from here," he said, adding that water
tankers could not reach the villages due to the rugged terrain and poor
roads. "One thousand litres of water costs 5,000 riyals (about US$25).
Animals have also been severely affected."
Water projects idle
Hufash local council head Al-Ashabi said there were two water projects
in his district - started 18 years ago - but that the Urban Water
Resources Authority had halted them as they were not being properly
implemented.
He said the local council had tried to rehabilitate one of the projects
but it had very limited resources. "The projects need millions of
riyals... but our annual budget is no more than 70 million riyals
(US$350,000)," he said.
The main crops in the area include 'khat' [a mild narcotic], corn,
coffee, and fruit, which all depended on rainfall. Farmers were unable
to irrigate their crops, he said.
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