Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
The Police Department of Taiz Governorate has announced the implementation of a series of security and administrative measures aimed at containing the escalating water crisis in the city. These measures included the detention of several desalination station owners and the summoning of administrative officials with police escorts after they failed to attend an emergency meeting held to address the crisis.
Police spokesperson Lt. Col. Osama Al-Sharaabi explained that some station owners refused to comply with the emergency response plan, prompting the police to detain them as a precautionary measure. He also noted that senior officials in the service sector ignored invitations to attend the meeting, leading to police intervention to bring them in.
During the meeting, a 48-hour emergency plan was approved, requiring the Water Authority to provide continuous pumping to desalination stations and organize the operation of water tankers by sending them outside the city to meet residents’ needs, while limiting the use of only one tanker for transporting water from the authority’s reservoirs.
Lt. Col. Al-Sharaabi also expressed surprise at the Water Authority’s decision to halt supply to the stations just 24 hours after implementation began—without offering any explanation—despite the director of the authority having signed the meeting’s resolution, attending the session, and assigning a representative to the joint operations room.
He stressed that this sudden reversal has further complicated the crisis and disrupted ongoing efforts to resolve it. He called on all relevant parties to honor their commitments and take responsibility for alleviating the severe water shortage afflicting residents.
