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.