Public water not available in Taiz for two months
I was shocked to learn many years ago that Taiz routinely only got public water every 45 days. In 2007, a Japanese concern came up with a comprehensive water strategy for Yemen, after a two year study, that included some very basic and logical recommendations. However institutional dis-coordination and competing interests, including those of qat barons and water merchants within the government, prevented its implementation. Over the years, the water issue evoked protests in Taiz, including one where people held up bread and empty water jugs to demand basic services including water. Clearly one of the issues going forward on all levels will be dislodging those with vested financial interests in corruption and dysfunction that inhibit reform. The medical sector is another example with similarly dire consequences. The following YT article is a broad overview of “Concerns over armed presence in Taiz,” and tensions regarding water are just one triggering factor.
Yemen Times, Taiz: “We ask the security committee to deal with these problems promptly. They keep giving the armed men 48 hours to put down their guns…but after these periods, nothing changes.”
Hawdh Al-Ashraf’s main road was closed when local residents protested after not receiving water from the government for more than two months.
“We are a big family and we cannot afford to pay YR 12,000 monthly for water tanks. We will keep the road closed until the state fulfills its promise to provide us with water,” said Nabeel Ahmad of Hawdh Al-Ashraf.
Fekra Mahmoud, a writer from Taiz, said that life in Taiz has been worrying as some young people “are immature and might be pushed by the regime or revolution supporters to do things such as fire gunshots in the air and close roads. We should all work to return life to normalcy in Taiz.”
According to a source that asked not to be named, there are people who want rampant insecurity in the city and who pretend that water and electricity problems are the motives behind closing roads. According to well-informed sources from the Republican Guards, representatives of the military committee withdrew from Taiz as they were called on by higher-ups in Sana’a.
This occurred simultaneously with the arrival of the military commission headed by Major General Nasser Al-Tahiri in Taiz. The major came to solve issues regarding checkpoints, the removal of armed figures and the release of prisoners.
An official source from the military commission denied that the withdrawal of Republican Guard from Taiz took place. He said that all the Republican Guard units in Taiz are committed, are under the guidance of the military committee and that they returned to their camps. He added that the commission is living up to its responsibility to restore security and stability to Taiz.




