Next week, hundreds of thousands of households in Amman, Zarqa, and Balqa
will experience their second water supply interruption in just two weeks.
Jordanian households in many areas will have no option but to postpone
water-dependent household chores (such as doing the laundry) for four weeks
straight, to avoid emptying their water tanks.
اضافة اعلان
Households whose
piped water was halted last week (for a period of 52 hours, in November 14-17)
will have started limiting their water consumption a week earlier, starting
November 7. Outrageously, they are still expected to ration water for two more
weeks, bringing their water austerity to nearly a full month.
Although water
has resumed pumping this week for a typical 24-hour period per household, a
large number of people will not be able to use water for anything beyond
light-handed chores (such as washing the dishes), thanks to next week’s
scheduled interruptions.
The Jordan Water
Company, Miyahuna, will halt water supplies starting November 27 until December
3 for a total of 110 areas in Jordan’s central region, due to maintenance work
on the Disi Water Conveyance Project and the Zai Water Purification Station.
This includes 65 areas in Amman, 17 in Salt, 14 in Ain El-Basha, six in Fuheis
and Mahes, four in Al-Ardah and four in Zarqa.
While most
vicinities will be experiencing water disruptions for the first time this
month, residents living in 25 residential and mixed-use areas will be going
through their second water stoppage in just 14 days. Those include 19 areas in
Amman, three in Salt, two in Ain El-Basha and one in Al-Ardah.
In Amman,
neighborhoods forced to conserve water for four weeks in a row include:
Shmeisani, Um El-Summq, Al-Rawabi, Lweibdeh, Jabal Amman, Deir Ghbar, Abdoun,
Marj El-Hamam, Sports City, Al-Jubeiha, Al-Rabieh, Dabouq, Al-Mgablain and
Al-Yasamine, among others.
In many of these
areas there are heavily populated residential neighborhoods. It would be safe
to assume that water interruptions will affect at least one million people for
the second time this month.
Amman alone is
home to 4.642 million people, while Zarqa, Jordan’s third largest city,
accommodates 1.58 million inhabitants, according to estimates released in
September.
As per usual,
public information about the water interruptions scheduled for next week were
scattered all over the local media.
Most top-tier
newspapers based their reports on a joint statement released on Sunday by the
Water Ministry, Water Authority, Disi Water Company (DIWACO) and Miyahuna. It
listed the names of the affected areas in addition to the dates, while
neglecting to break down the actual number of areas or the estimated population
residing in them. There was also no mention of the fact that some of these
areas will be experiencing their second water stoppage this month alone.
On the same day,
local news website Khaberni posted a report that contained further information
that was not mentioned in mainstream media. It quoted a Water Ministry
spokesperson saying “additional water quantities” will be pumped this week to
all affected areas to prepare residents for next week’s water stoppage.
Curiously, as he
stressed the need to conserve water, he warned that no water tankers will be
mobilized to cover citizens’ needs in case of shortages, unless it was for an
emergency involving water pollution or other disorders that do not involve the
overuse of water.
Understanding the linkages between the “technical” and the “social” aspects of water is literally the job of the Water Ministry, which over the past few decades must have accumulated the experience and the insight to understand how disturbing water disruptions are to Jordanians’ daily lives.
Still, there is
more to the story. Another piece of information came in on Monday via Roya TV,
where the same spokesperson told viewers that the extra water quantities
earmarked for this week will stand at 10 percent, adding that people will still
need to ration water to cope with next week’s water disruptions.
Fragmented
information is a staple of the Jordanian government and this week’s performance
by the Water Ministry is yet another clear example of a chronic problem that is
extremely straightforward to fix.
Anyone working
in the fields of communication and public relations knows that press releases
need to include key “talking points” and background information that covers
every possible angle relevant to the target audience.
But in Jordan,
the norm is to post half-sleeved statements that barely offer the general
public the full picture. With so many facts missing from press releases, the
answers start sprouting organically over the course of several days, following
a multitude of questions raised by normal citizens on social media, as well as
by reporters working for mainstream media.
The problem with
this chaotic method is that so much gets lost on regular people, who should not
have to waste their time on piecing together the facts just to form an
understanding of one simple announcement.
Professionally
trained and competent communications teams should be able to anticipate
questions by the general public and the media before writing press releases
that share easy-to-understand facts all in one go.
This said, the
real problem here is with the scheduling. Just by employing common sense, the
engineers who scheduled the two water stoppages within such a short time
interval should have thought about the inconveniences this will cause their
countrymen and women; sick patients who need special care, mothers looking
after their small and demanding children, and siblings taking care of their
elderly parents or grandparents.
It takes a
little bit of empathy to realize that making these people’s lives harder by
creating an unreasonable maintenance schedule is simply unfair.
Understanding
the linkages between the “technical” and the “social” aspects of water is
literally the job of the Water Ministry, which over the past few decades must
have accumulated the experience and the insight to understand how disturbing
water disruptions are to Jordanians’ daily lives.
These water
interruptions are not a climate change problem; they are a governance problem.
And those responsible for such tight scheduling should be accountable for their
actions, lest this becomes a habit of the Water Ministry’s and its partners.
Interruptions to
domestic water supplies must be spaced out so as to avoid inconveniencing
citizens or making them feel like someone is out to get them. It is exhausting
to keep on pointing out the obvious. When will this incompetence be addressed?
Ruba Saqr has reported on the environment, worked in
the public sector as a communications officer, and served as managing editor of
a business magazine, spokesperson for a humanitarian INGO, and as head of a PR
agency.
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