Enab Baladi – Marina Merhej
Residents in Rif Dimashq governorate are complaining about the long periods it takes to repair the water supply network that serves their areas, which forces them to rely on the local community to gather repair costs, especially in areas heavily dependent on local wells for drinking water.
Enab Baladi monitored several complaints from citizens in various regions of rural Damascus and contacted neighborhood committees and several heads of water units to understand the problems facing the sector in the maintenance and rehabilitation of water networks, and the procedures followed during the repair process.
The areas of rural Damascus are categorized in terms of drinking water supply as follows:
Areas near and adjacent to the city of Damascus, supplied by pumping part of Damascus’s water, in addition to local wells in each area.
Areas farther from Damascus, such as: Nabk, Qara, Nashabiya, Haran al-Awameed, Zabadani, Sa’sa, Qatana, and others, which are supplied through local well projects in each area, in addition to the legally permitted agricultural or domestic wells.
Worn-out equipment and network violations
Enab Baladi approached the General Establishment for Drinking Water in Damascus and its countryside on April 30, and met with the director general of the establishment, Ahmad Darwish, to discuss the issues faced by residents.
Darwish explained that the water network in rural Damascus faces significant challenges, the most important of which is the number of pumps that are out of service and need repair, estimated at around 1500 horizontal pumps out of 4000. The establishment is unable to repair this number all at once through its workshops, necessitating the prioritization of repairs based on the importance of the pump within the area.
Typically, repairs are carried out through expense contracts or investment contracts. Regarding the lengthy time frame for repair and maintenance operations, the director general stated that there are numerous paperwork procedures that take between one week and ten days, which the head of the water unit must undertake from the moment a fault is detected until it is fixed. These are routine procedures that cannot be bypassed; however, attention from the head of the water unit and their follow-up on requests with the concerned authorities can expedite the repair process.
The breakdowns of water pumps that supply drinking water from wells to subscribers are frequent, resulting from their age, wear, and the end of their manufacturing lifespan, in addition to repeated repairs due to fluctuations in electrical voltage.
Additionally, the water networks in rural Damascus face significant violations such as theft, vandalism, and daily reports of stolen electrical transformers that operate the pumps during power outages, electrical panels specific to wells, and cables connecting the pumps to the main electrical network. Some local communities have appointed guards to protect properties that primarily benefit them.
Violations against the water network do not only include theft; some individuals dig private wells illegally without obtaining the necessary licenses from the Water Resources Authority.
Insufficient budget and lack of personnel
The budget allocated for the General Establishment for Drinking Water in Damascus and its countryside is inadequate. While the cost of priority investment projects for the establishment is approximately 44 million USD to ensure the supply of drinking water to all areas of Damascus and its countryside, the budget allocated is only 7 million USD, according to the director general, Ahmad Darwish.
The establishment relies on supportive parties from local and international organizations, contractors, and the local community as a critical aid in addressing the deficiencies resulting from budget shortages. There are often collaborative efforts between the establishment and the local community, where one entity provides materials while another handles execution.
The establishment suffers from a scarcity and weakness in its technical and administrative staff, numbering around 1700 workers, while it requires double this number of experienced personnel to accomplish its work with the required quality and without delay.
Darwish noted that increasing the number of personnel would allow the establishment to appoint guards within the water units to monitor wells and reduce theft and vandalism occurring to the networks.
In rural Damascus, there are 43 water units distributed across areas, with each water unit responsible for a group of towns.
Enhancing the culture of complaints
Residents in some neighborhoods of rural Damascus are being exploited by certain influential individuals in their areas, who collect money when there is a malfunction in the water network and its equipment, claiming to expedite the repair process, rather than waiting months or even years for official entities to address the issue.
Residents often yield to this exploitation after a quick comparison between the demanded amount and the cost of water delivery from unreliable mobile tanks, without consulting the concerned entities to verify the accuracy of the request or the amount they are expected to pay if they rely on the local community and have exhausted the water unit’s opportunities to find alternative solutions.
Regarding this issue, the director general of the establishment stated that citizens should consult the water unit responsible for their area directly to ensure they have the correct information. If there is no response, he confirmed that all electronic channels and offices of the establishment are open, and many complaints are addressed daily.
He emphasized the importance of enhancing the culture of complaints among citizens to prevent their exploitation by unscrupulous individuals, as officials cannot reach all areas and neighborhoods to know what is happening. Here, the role of the citizen in claiming their rights comes to light, and complaints are handled according to their specifics—some require forming a committee to investigate fraudulent activities and taking necessary legal actions.
Rural Damascus has witnessed, during the years of war in Syria, destruction of basic infrastructure, including drinking water networks. Maintenance and rehabilitation hurdles for these networks remain a barrier to providing water to residents in the governorate’s areas, amid the scarcity of water resources this year, decreased rainfall, and rising demand for water.
Rif Dimashq: Delays in water network maintenance burden residents, reveal funding weakness Enab Baladi.
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