AMMAN — Following an announcement by the
Jordan Water Company, Miyahuna, that water supplies pumped to dozens of areas will be
temporarily halted to allow technicians to perform maintenance angered
Jordanians, who complained of repeated interruptions even before the
announcement.
اضافة اعلان
Last week, Miyahuna said that water pumped through
the national network to 110 districts in Jordan’s central region will cease as
of November 27, due to maintenance work on the Disi Water Conveyance Project
and Zay Water Purification Station.
Jordanians,
however, complained that there had been several water interruptions, even
before this planned maintenance, which deprived some households of water for
several weeks, or months, forcing them to buy water from vendors distributing
it in water tanks.
Some Jordanians urged the government for quick and
radical solutions to the water problems in Jordan, a parched desert nation
which heavily relies on rainfall as the main source of water supplies.
But with climate change, the Middle East, Europe,
and many other parts of the world were struck by drought.
Retired military officer Abdulrahman, 43, a resident
of Jerash, said that water is pumped to his area for two days every three
weeks. “This makes it impossible to have water during that long period without
buying it from private companies,” he said, insisting not to be identified
further.
“Besides paying water bills every three months, we
are obliged to put money aside to buy water tanks since we cannot live without
water for one day,” he told
Jordan News.
Mohammad, 38, an accountant and father of three,
lives in Berain Village in Zarqa. He said his area receives water once every
two months.
“When we complained to Miyahuna, the response was
that there are continuous water thefts and attacks on the pipes in the area,
and that the company is working on resolving the matter,” he told
Jordan
News.
“For a family of five, we have three water tanks,
each one is 2sq.m., which is barely enough to last for more than 10 days,” he
said.
Water expert
Elias Salameh, a professor of Water
Sciences, told
Jordan News that water supply interruption “is caused by
the scarcity of water resources in Jordan, as well as the increased population
density”.
He called for the necessity to move forward with water projects, and to find
effective solutions to the water shortages.
“One of the most important solutions is the
desalination of the Red Sea water in Aqaba,” he said. “This solution will
ensure water availability to all citizens.”
Omar, a public school teacher and a father of two
living in Amman’s Al-Taj neighborhood, said that he buys water tanks every week
because water is only pumped to his area for half a day each week.
“Water tanks are expensive,” he groaned. “Even for a
small family like mine, we pay around JD100 every month only for water tanks,
in addition to the water bill.”
“It is like we are paying twice for our water
consumption,” he said.
Omar Salameh, a spokesperson for the Ministry of
Water and Irrigation, told
Jordan News that there are certain measures
being taken by the ministry to resolve the water shortages.
“We have implemented plans for the northern regions,
and established conveyor lines to solve the problems in the northern regions,
keeping in mind that the number of complaints is constantly decreasing when
compared to previous years,” Salameh said.
“The water cycles are regular, but there are
problems that we encounter, and we try to solve them,” he added.
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