Tørke har ramt Somalialand, hvor flere tusinde familier ikke har vand nok. Det har betydet stigende vandpriser i det i forvejen fattige land
HARGEISA: – Hundreds of households in the disputed Sool area of the self-declared republic of Somaliland are facing a water shortage following poor rains, say officials.
Both Somaliland and the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland claim the Sool and Sanaag regions.
“We believe an estimated 3,000 households are facing water shortages in [the] Sool Region,” Mohamed Mousa Awale, chairman of Somaliland’s National Environment Research and Disaster Preparedness and Management Authority (NERAD), told IRIN.
Awale added that some drought-affected rural families had migrated to neighbouring areas, such as Togdheer and Buhotle, which had received good ‘Deyr’ rains – the rains typical from October to December. Others moved further south in search water and pasture.
“But we are worried [about] the old people and the people who had no ability to move from the villages. [They] are in a serious situation and need water and food,” he said.
Commenting on the number of those affected, Sool Deputy Governor Mohamed Abdi Dhimbil said, “There is no accurate estimation, but I can only tell that the water shortage has affected the whole region. The nearest water source is 94km away, inside Ethiopia, and we believe that about 200 pastoralist families [are in] search of water and pasture in Somalia’s Mudug Region.”
Increasing prices
The price of water in Las-Anod, Sool’s capital, has sharply increased since mid-February. A 200L barrel of ‘durdur’, or spring water, now costs $1.50, up from to $1 a month ago. A barrel of rainwater from the ‘berkads’, or water pans, has risen from $2.48 to $5.
“The durdurs [springs] near Las-Anod have run out of water for the first time in history, and prices [have] increased,” said Faisal Jama, a journalist based in Las-Anod.
“The water price increase has [a] negative impact [on] our livelihoods. If someone’s income is $150 per month, he/she needs $45 for water compared, to $22.38 a month [ago], and the remaining [money] is not enough to cover his/her livelihood needs,” said Mohamed ABdillahi, a father of five.
Læs mere om tørken her http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97678/Water-scarcity-affects-Somaliland-households
