MADINAH, 9 July 2006 — Water tank drivers in Madinah are taking advantage of a water shortage in the city by charging residents double the price for water.
With temperatures in Madinah reaching 40 degrees in the summer, residents of some neighborhoods, most notably Aziziyah and Al-Duaitha, have been complaining of a shortage of water for days and even weeks. According to residents, truck drivers are charging up to SR300 per water tank.
Saleh Al-Ahmadi, a resident of Madinah, said that prices of water tanks were too high. “Why are we having a water shortage in mid-summer? We still don’t know why there is such a severe water shortage. Every time we call the water department, all we hear are unfulfilled, false promises that water will be supplied the very next day,” he said.
Muhammad Al-Shengiti, from the Al-Duaitha suburb, said that he has found it rather difficult to live without water for three weeks and has lost hope in the water department.
“Our entire household is paralyzed. We can’t wash our clothes or clean the kitchen. I bring gallons of water from my cousin’s house in Al-Seeh, just to keep things running,” said Al-Shengiti.
He added that other neighborhoods were not suffering similar problems. “My aunt’s house in the Al-Harra Al-Gharbeya area haven’t had a water shortage in a long time, even during the summer peak,” he said.
Salah Al-Ruwaily, another resident from Al-Duaitha, said: “Al-Duaitha is forgotten. There are other neighborhoods where important officials and businessmen live and they never experience these problems. Because this neighborhood is new and full of rest-resorts, the municipality doesn’t care about it.
“If we are important then we wouldn’t face this problem. Most of us here have SR2,000-a-month salary, and there is no way that they could afford paying for water tanks in the black-market. We request the officials at the water department to solve the problem.”
Nabil Azmirli of the Madinah water department told Al-Madinah newspaper that all the complaints were untrue. “We supply the Aziziyah and Al-Duaitha neighborhoods with water all the time. If there are any shortages then they would definitely not last for more than three days,” he told the newspaper.
