Abdo Khal

Okaz

 

There are problems that have remained for many years without solutions. Many articles were written about these problems, which have resisted all attempts to resolve them.



A writer could safely repeat an article that he had written on these problems fours ago and nobody would notice. The reader may remember many of these problems, which remained unsolved despite the passage of time and the promises to definitely resolve them.



The solutions are often implemented at a tortoise pace while the officials concerned about the solutions do not care much about the frustration of the citizens. There are problems that have hit both people and towns.



At the top of these problems is the scarcity of water, which has been repeated time and again without any hope for a permanent solution. The National Water Company does not have an answer to this perennial problem.



The company failed to provide us with a clear-cut reason for the recent shortage of water in Jeddah. (It is reported that many other towns and cities were facing the same problem).



It seems that the predicament of Jeddah residents to obtain water will never end. Running after water tankers have become a routine affair for the residents. There is a common saying among people that if you see someone running after a water tanker then you can be sure that he is a Jeddah resident.



We have been hearing the same reasons and justifications for the problem of the scarcity of water. These, among others, include the Haj season, the opening of schools, the advent of the fasting month of Ramadan, the summer vacation or the transporting of water from Jeddah to other locations.



The drivers of the water tankers often tell us about explosions at water refilling stations when water pipes are feeding them and also claim that they have been prevented from going to far-off areas in the city.



The responsible department should come out openly and tell us about the real reasons behind the scarcity of water and why the water tankers are prevented from going to the far-off districts in Jeddah that until now do not have the luxury of water networks.



We want to know why the price of a water tanker has tripled to reach about SR350. You will not only have to pay this high price but you should be willing to wait for long hours in the queue to obtain a tanker.



This is happening to us while the rest of the world has not yet entered into a water war. What are we going to do when that time comes?