Residents of Madinah neighborhood protest against severe water shortage

Saudi Gazette report MADINAH — Residents of King Fahd neighborhood in Madinah are using water department washrooms as a way to protest the constant water shortages in their area. The residents said they complained many times about the water shortage lasting more than five months, but have not received any response from the water department yet. Saeed Salem, a resident, visited the office of an official at the water department to complain that there was no water in his house for three months. He said he could not afford to buy water from water trucks because it drained his budget. Muhammad Qasim, another resident, said he suffered water shortages for more than five months, and when he and many others complained to officials they started pumping water, but it was a weak flow and only lasted a few hours. Abdul Kareem Al-Mutairi said he was following up with the water problem and had filed many complaints, but the officials did not respond. He said one official finally told him that water was pumped into the neighborhood automatically and the shortage was due to falling water reserves. A source from the water department in Madinah said the water storage level dropped following the summer, Ramadan and Haj seasons. The official said they are not facing any technical problems and they are working on fixing the water shortage in the neighborhoods. Residents in Rabat Al-Jurf neighborhood are also living in similar circumstances. They suffered water shortages for seven months and are relying on expensive water trucks, which many of them cannot afford. One resident, Mused Al-Hubaishi, said: “The neighborhood is in a strategic location and we rarely suffered from water problems. When most Madinah neighborhoods were suffering from water shortage, we were not. This has changed seven months ago as we began to witness a severe shortage in water. In the past, we used to get water two days a week. Now for seven months we did not get any water.” Another resident, Audi Al-Arwi, said: “It cost me around SR800 last month to bring eight water trucks. I cannot afford this and this is a burden on me. I complained to the water department and each time they tell me that they are pumping to my house. Is it true that they are pumping water to my house and at the same time I am buying water? This is ridiculous.”