Water pumped to Madinah is not enough

MADINAH — The amount of desalinated water pumped to Madinah from desalination plants in Yanbu cannot meet the increasing demand of Madinah people on this natural resource, said the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture in explanation to water cuts in numerous neighborhoods. The City of the Prophet has seen over the past years a massive urban development and a large increase in population. Madinah City Water Authority Director Salih Jablawi said there were no water cuts; what happened was simply a redistribution of water supply based on the needs of each neighborhood and according to the amount of water pumped from the Yanbu desalination plants. “We pump water to neighborhoods based on how densely-populated a neighborhood is. Vital sites such as mosques, universities, schools, and hospitals are constantly supplied with water. We did receive complaints about water cuts but they were few and only a small number of people complained about the shortage of water in their neighborhoods. We handled all complaints right on the spot without any delay,” Jablawi explained. The authority is working round the clock to provide all neighborhoods suffering from water shortage with water and, dispatching its water trucks to these neighborhoods. It also explained that there are two types of water tankers: The first is the licensed ones, which are permitted by the authority to transport water. The second is the unlicensed ones and are run by individual persons. The latter are not allowed to use the authority’s water supply points nor are they approved by the authority. The public are urged not to use unlicensed water tankers and to report violators to the authority.