The Shoura Council Sunday summoned Minister of Water and Electricity Eng. Abdullah Al-Hosain to explain the water shortage across the Kingdom. The minister promised to resolve the crisis at a Shoura session three months ago, but nothing tangible has been done so far. The Shoura members called for an immediate session with the Water Minister as demand for water was expected to increase during the summer. “It is completely justified to question the minister at a Shoura session about the severe shortage of water which was promised to be resolved three months ago,” said Eng. Muhammad Al-Quaihis, director of water and general facilities. The Shoura members voiced concern over the incompetent handling of water crisis in the Kingdom as specified in a pile of complaints it received, he said. The Kingdom announced last March that around $60b would be allocated to the water sector over the next 20 years. For eight straight days, Jeddah has suffered a drastic shortage of water, forcing residents to wait in long lines for water tankers at a hefty price of SR500 each or more. Water pipes, however, started slowly to come back to life Sunday, pumping more water to highly affected districts in northern and central Jeddah. Residents have called for immediate solution to the problem starting with a fixed price tag for water tankers. A resident would pay SR1,000 to get tankers of water every month, while the actual monthly water bill wouldn't exceed SR5 had the water department resolved the issue. The only people who are making bucks out of others' misery are the water contractors, a resident said. “They are selling us water that we are supposed to get for free,” said a citizen in a long line waiting for his turn to get a tanker of water. The man exchanged turns with his father waiting in the queue. “I have been waiting for 12 hours to get water,” said Saleh Al-Qahtani. “But when I got my ticket to buy it, the driver of the tanker said his tanker had just broken down,” he added. “I had to go back again to the end of the line,” he lamented. “I've skipped work to bring water to my home,” said Saad Al-Sulami. – Okaz (Eid Al-Harthi and Saud Al-Harthi from Jeddah) __
