MALI-KIDAL/WATER Severe water shortages hit northern Malian city of Kidal

Record ID: 144641

  • Title: MALI-KIDAL/WATER Severe water shortages hit northern Malian city of Kidal
  • Date: 6th August 2015
  • Summary: INTIKWA, MALI (RECENT) (REUTERS) WATER TRUCK DRIVER EXITING TRUCK VARIOUS OF DRIVER FILLING WATER TANK BOY DRINKING FROM LEAKING WATER PIPE WATER POURING FROM PIPE BIRD DRINKING FROM LEAKING WATER PIPE (SOUNDBITE) (Tamasheq) SADIO AG, WATER TRUCK DRIVER SAYING: "At times I come very early but I still find people here before me. Some have even been here since yesterday, whi
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mali
  • Country: Mali
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3BVOP2Z65RL23HKHQ8T1S60HU
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: In Mali's north eastern region, severe water shortages threaten lives and the region's stability officials and residents say.
    In the town of Kidal, the closest water supply is located 10 km (6 miles) away in Intikwa. Truck drivers leave their homes as early as 5 am in order to be the first ones to access the wells.
    "At times I come very early but I still find people here before me. Some have even been here since yesterday, while others came around midnight. It is difficult to get water and it is expensive. People are thirsty and in town there is no more water. The water we sell is expensive because gas is expensive," said truck driver Sadio Ag.
    Kidal is completely dependent on generators from the International Committee of the Red Cross to pump water, while water trucks and horse carts must make trips between two to three times a day to wells outside the city.
    Amadou Ag Siri heads Kidal's office of water and electricity.
    "The water problem is very critical in Kidal. Not only does the Kidal population not have sufficient means to solve this problem, but neither do we. Fortunately, we have the help of the ICRC that gave us motor pumps to deal with the water issue. But the water crisis is not yet resolved in the Kidal region," said Siri.
    Mali's average rainfall has dropped by 30 percent since 1998 with droughts becoming longer and more frequent, according to a 2013 study by the U.S. army's Strategic Studies Institute.
    As a consequence, hunger is a chronic problem in the West African country with more than 1.8 million people, including 660,000 children, in need of food aid.
    But the situation is worse in the north, which was briefly seized in 2012 by Tuareg separatists allied with Islamic militants until a French-led military operation scattered them.
    Here, some 270,000 people face starvation, according to figures from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
    In Kidal, many people have to queue for hours and have to pay up to 7 US dollars for a single barrel of water.
    The only way to access water is through trucks provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Four ICRC generators work to provide water for the town, but that still hasn't alleviated the situation.
    "Kidal is confronted with problems of water access, problems that could result in climatic issues such as dried up water sources, which is the case during this time of year, but also in terms of the difficulties that arise with malfunctioning generators," said the head of the ICRC office in Kidal, Mame Ibrahima Tounkara.
    He adds that broken down wells in the area is another issue, but that the ICRC is making efforts to repair them.
    Some residents in Kidal blame MINUSMA, the United Nation's peacekeeping force in Mali for the water shortage.
    They say one of the reasons the price of water has increased is because it is being wasted in the MINUSMA camps.
    "It truly is a crisis situation, and MINUSMA is responsible for it. Even with all of its power and means, MINUSMA has not been able to create new water sources to try and help this population. They don't do anything. Up until now they haven't done anything," said Kidal resident Mazou Ibrahim Toure.
    But Christophe Sivillon, who heads MINUSMA in Kidal, says there are many pirated water system networks and that management needs to improve.
    Drinking water for animals also adds pressure to limited water sources.
    "The accusations we hear about MINUSMA being the cause of all problems and those relating to water are being made too quickly. We are in a situation where the Malian government isn't present, and there's still the fact that 50% of water consumers have left. There used to be a large population in Kidal, but they left, so I don't think that MINUSMA is taking and stealing the water from Kidal," he said.
    A peace deal was signed on June 20 meant to draw a line under the uprising and allow the authorities to focus on tackling Islamist militants in the desert north.
    But many residents say that despite the peace deal, there has been little change on the ground in the daily challenge they face, such as lack of access to water and food.
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