Sanaa: A meeting in Sanaa today, chaired by the Acting Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, Ammar Al Karim, discussed the work progress at the General Authority for Water Resources and Facilities, the performance level of its branches in the provinces, and the most prominent achievements accomplished during the past period in carrying out its assigned tasks.
According to Yemen News Agency, the meeting included the Deputy of the Land Reclamation and Water Resources Sector at the ministry, Ali Hazza, and the head of the General Authority for Water Resources and Facilities, Engineer Hadi Quraiah. The discussions focused on the authority's efforts and its pivotal role in preserving and developing water sources, and controlling random well digging and violator excavators.
The attendees, including the two deputies of the Water Resources Authority, Engineer Abdul Karim Al Sufyani and Mohammed Al Habari for Sanaa province, and a number of concerned parties from the ministry and the authority, reviewed the projects implemented by the authority to create lakes and water barriers, aiming to feed groundwater and develop its sources in water basins.
During the meeting, the Acting Minister of Agriculture praised the efforts of the leadership and staff of the General Authority for Water Resources and Facilities in preserving and developing water wealth, and protecting groundwater basins from excessive depletion and random digging. He pointed out that the Land Reclamation and Water Resources Sector is directly linked to water wealth, which requires that future plans meet the requirements of sustainable agricultural development, expand land reclamation, and integrate with efforts to preserve water basins.
Al Karim affirmed the ministry leadership's support for projects to create barriers, dams, and water lakes, and working to implement the "Tasheel" initiative to resolve the problems facing the authority, including implementing wise solutions to all accumulated issues and problems that the authority suffers from, and correcting the status of excavators by issuing licenses and paying outstanding dues.
He stressed the necessity for everyone to assume responsibility during the current phase, which requires integration of efforts and unification of collective work, to achieve water security, ensure the sustainability of water resources and rationalise their use, to meet the needs of various sectors, and enhance water wealth and protect it from depletion.
For his part, the Deputy of the Agricultural Land Reclamation and Water Resources Sector, Hazza, reviewed the sector's work guidelines according to the requirements of the current phase and leadership directives, aimed at preparing an integrated strategy that ensures the expansion of land reclamation and reliance on modern irrigation techniques. He pointed to the need to enhance efforts to preserve strategic water reserves, and protect water basins feeding agricultural areas from random depletion to ensure the sustainability of local production, affirming the keenness to maintain existing water facilities, to improve the efficiency of rainwater and flood harvesting and benefit from them in the irrigation sector.
Meanwhile, the head of the General Authority for Water Resources and Facilities, Engineer Quraiah, reviewed the authority's tasks and work implemented during the past period in carrying out water harvesting projects and applying legal procedures to control random digging, in implementation of the directives of the revolutionary leadership and the Supreme Political Council aimed at protecting water wealth and achieving sustainable water security. He explained that the authority has branches in various provinces concerned with following up on the implementation of water policy, controlling violations and random digging, noting the authority's role in preparing studies and plans for rainwater harvesting, and developing basins and groundwater sources to meet the needs of sustainable development.
Engineer Quraiah touched on the authority's focus of its efforts on protecting and feeding water basins, developing water sources and ensuring their sustainability, especially in light of the existence of critical basins that need urgent interventions and strict measures to reduce the excessive depletion of groundwater. He noted that the authority is working to expand rainwater harvesting facilities, aiming to reduce pressure on groundwater wells and enhance the natural recharge of water, in addition to focusing on protecting springs and streams, preventing well digging near them, and conducting necessary studies in this regard.
The head of the General Authority for Water Resources and Facilities reviewed many of the problems facing the work progress in the authority and its branches, and ways to solve them through the "Tasheel" initiative that is capable of overcoming many field challenges. He also touched on institutional building in the authority and its branches, and the training courses and workshops implemented to qualify staff, in addition to the efforts made to raise performance efficiency and automate administrative and technical work, affirming that the authority is proceeding with updating its administrative system in line with the goals of the national vision and building the modern Yemeni state.
Meanwhile, the deputy of the General Authority for Water Resources and Facilities, Engineer Abdul Karim Al Sufyani, affirmed the authority's interest in providing technical support and encouraging community initiatives that contribute to the establishment and rehabilitation of barriers and lakes for rainwater harvesting.