Government neglect causes water crisis: Syria’s Suwayda residents
SUWAYDA, Syria (North Press) – On Tuesday, residents of villages in the southeastern countryside of Suwayda, southern Syria, said that the government’s negligence of the periodic maintenance of water wells in the area caused them to be out of service.
Residents of Suwayda countryside have been buying water, after it was completely cut off as a result of the disruption of most of the wells in the area which have become out of service.
Since a year, Suwayda has been witnessing a crisis of frequent drinking water cut off as a result of the breakdown of many water wells and the failure to take any government measures that would find a solution to this worsening crisis.
On April 7, civilians and those interested in public affairs gathered in front of the Water Institution in Suwayda to protest the lack of a solution to the water crisis throughout the governorate.
Mas’oud Rustum, 52, a pseudonym for a resident of the town of Qeismah in the southeastern countryside of Suwayda, told North Press that most water was cut off from the villages and towns in this area yesterday.
There are ten wells in the southeastern countryside of Suwayda, most of which are out of service due to the absence of regular maintenance and the “negligence by the government,” according to the residents of the area.
“Villages in the southeast countryside were forced to buy water from tanks at 9,000 SYP for a tank of 1,000 liters,” Rustum added.
A government official at the Water Institution in Suwayda told North Press that the breakdown of water wells is due to the need of new spare parts, considering that the old ones have become old and unfit.
“Many wells throughout Suwayda have been suffering from the same problem, and that financial budgets are not available to rehabilitate the wells. The Water Institution will provide the southeastern countryside with water tanks until a solution is found.”