YEAR LATER, FLOOD-AFFECTED PEOPLE STILL WAITING FOR SUPPORT

By: Abdullah Ba-Khorisah

Translated into English by: Tawfiq Alnafhif

HADRAMOUT, Nov. 03 (Saba)- On October last year, people of Wadi
Hadramout could not expect that their villages would be ravaged by
floods, heavy rains continued for three nights, during which the
hills poured huge quantities of water that swept everything before
it.

Dark clouds without lightning or thunder loaded with heavy water
started raining cats and dogs on Wednesday morning and continued
like this until Friday.

The gesture of fear and horror was notable on the faces of Wadi
Hadramout citizens, and particularly when they heard bad news saying
that a heavy flood never seen before was coming and would reach them.

Citizens were waiting cautiously, while torrent swept everything in
its way, until it reached the end of Wadi Hadhramaut. It left lot of
disasters, damages, paints and painful memories behind, where few
people dead and thousands of displaced families and hundreds of
destroyed houses were recorded in the valley of Hadhramaut and
Shabwa province.

Saeed Omar Ammar, from the directorate of Alqatt says:
"Compensations, especially for families that completely affected,
are just rumors for the media propose only, citizens did not get
anything until now.

Adding that the work level of the Reconstruction Committee, at the
valley of Hadhramaut, is very weak despite the big support and aid
offered by the friendly countries, calling the Committee to
distribute the aids to people who were totally affected by the
disaster, in order to build new houses as drawn by the local
authorities in this regard."


Salem Ali Al-Tamimi from Alsoom directorate says: "Here we have
finished almost all issues regarding the people affected by floods,
which left 26 houses completely destroyed, and approximately 33
houses are no longer fit to live in.

The affected people received aid from the various associations
after they moved to schools. Aids included food, blankets and other
materials, but after that the families had to leave the schools
because the students will back to school.

The Government promised them that it will continue its contact with
the charitable associations to pay rent of the tents, some people
supported by the associations, and others rented houses without any
assistance from any organization or authority ". Member of Local
Council in Trim directorate, Saeed Obaid Rbihan said.

Executive Director of the Reconstruction Fund of Hadramaut and
Mahara Abdullah Mohammed said that the field team has ended aid
distribution of the partly affected people in the districts of Wadi
Hadramout that cost YR. 44 millions, benefiting 156 affected in each
of the directorates of the Wadi Alain and Hawrah, Alqattn, Tarim and
the Alsoom. "

He added that the Fund plans to sign financing contracts in the next
few days for 46 cases which were totally affected in the
directorates of Alqattn, Alsoom and Shibam with a total cost of
YR.88 million.

Tarim is one of the most cities and regions affected by the floods
and it suffers from the same problems like the other cities, but the
government paid great efforts to facilitate the grant of the United
Arab of Emirates.

On the other hand, the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation
Mansour Alhawshabi together with the Deputy Governor of Hadramout
for the valley and the desert affairs, Omair Mubarak, recently
visited the city of Tarim.

They distributed new beehives for a number of beekeepers affected by
the floods in Tarim directorate where more than 11000 bee farmers
were affected by the floods in the valley of Hadramout.

The Rehabilitation Project of Bees Production funded by the Islamic
Bank for Development.

Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation pointed out that US$ 15
million were allocated for the agricultural sector's damages in the
provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, and the ministry has completed all
studies that identify the size of damages caused by the floods there.