JEDDAH — Water leakage from the public network has increased the suffering of southern Obhur district residents during the past two and a half months but the National Water Company (NWC) has not taken any action to stop the leakage despite residents' repeated complaints. "We have not seen the company's maintenance workers during this period except once," Nabeel Al-Romaih said in comments published by Al-Madina Arabic daily. "They just removed water from the streets with the support of suction tankers and left the place," he added. He said the district has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other disease-carrying flies as a result of swamps created by leaked water on the streets. "I have noticed that water is coming from three sources to create swamps in various parts of the district." Mohammed Moharek said NWC had given a deaf ear to the residents' repeated complaints. "The company has not taken any corrective action to stop the leakage of water and its accumulation in various parts of the district," he said. "Sucking water from the streets would not solve the problem. It will be a waste of time and money. They have to take action to prevent the leakage. I have contacted the company several times to know the status of the complaint and every time they said the file has been closed after solving the problem." Emad Al-Omrani said the district was depending on water tankers to get drinking water due to lack of supply from the desalination plant. "The leaked water should have been given to people of the district by giving home connections but it is wasted without taking action." Ahmed Al-Rajhi said the leaked water is the source of mosquitoes in the district. "If this leakage continues it would affect the foundation of buildings in the area." Al-Madina contacted Khaled Maqbool, spokesman of NWC two weeks ago, but did not get a reply to the paper's queries on how to solve the problems the residents are facing. He later told the newspaper that he would take up the matter with senior company officials to stop the leakage.
