JEDDAH: A number of water truck owners took advantage of an electric system disruption at the desalination plant in east Guwaiza on Thursday, which lasted into early Friday, by raising prices of 19-ton water trucks from SR114 to 300.
This angered consumers who told a local newspaper that the error occurred on Thursday. “The station made us wait until the next day without water. When we got there the employees informed us that water trucks would come after five or six hours,” one resident complained.
Sulaiman Abdul Rahman said the water company never called back after he requested for a truck. “So I had to go to the lounge in eastern Queizah to record my request. I received a number and contacted the driver. He promised me he will bring a truck after an hour but did not. I returned to the lounge later to take another number and waited until they sent me a truck. I am surprised by the water company’s dealings with citizens. The lounge is full of angry citizens, due to lack of control of the situation.”
Ammar Al-Harbi said he wanted water trucks on Thursday in order to fill his tanks. However, the desalination station did not cooperate.
“The employee told us that the system was disrupted and may take a long time to be fixed. We waited until they fixed it the next day. There was a large crowd of citizens in the desalination lounge because everybody needed water. As soon as I reached the employee to take a number to bring a truck, he told me it would come 'within six hours of your request.' I waited and he never came. I returned to the lounge and found a number of citizens, like me, waiting endlessly.”
The newspaper's attempts to contact Khalid Maqbool, director of public relations at the National Water Company, bore no fruit.
An employee of the company, however, said a fire damaged electrical cables and shut down all the computers, causing a complete collapse of the system.
This angered consumers who told a local newspaper that the error occurred on Thursday. “The station made us wait until the next day without water. When we got there the employees informed us that water trucks would come after five or six hours,” one resident complained.
Sulaiman Abdul Rahman said the water company never called back after he requested for a truck. “So I had to go to the lounge in eastern Queizah to record my request. I received a number and contacted the driver. He promised me he will bring a truck after an hour but did not. I returned to the lounge later to take another number and waited until they sent me a truck. I am surprised by the water company’s dealings with citizens. The lounge is full of angry citizens, due to lack of control of the situation.”
Ammar Al-Harbi said he wanted water trucks on Thursday in order to fill his tanks. However, the desalination station did not cooperate.
“The employee told us that the system was disrupted and may take a long time to be fixed. We waited until they fixed it the next day. There was a large crowd of citizens in the desalination lounge because everybody needed water. As soon as I reached the employee to take a number to bring a truck, he told me it would come 'within six hours of your request.' I waited and he never came. I returned to the lounge and found a number of citizens, like me, waiting endlessly.”
The newspaper's attempts to contact Khalid Maqbool, director of public relations at the National Water Company, bore no fruit.
An employee of the company, however, said a fire damaged electrical cables and shut down all the computers, causing a complete collapse of the system.
