Sana'a: A meeting was held in Sana'a today, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Administration, Local and Rural Development, Mohammed Al-Madani, and attended by the Acting Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ammar Al-Karim; the Deputy Minister of Electricity, Energy and Water, Adel Bader; and the Undersecretaries of the Ministry of Agriculture for the Land Reclamation Sector, Ali Hazza, and for Water Resources and Facilities, Engineer Abdulkarim Al-Sufyani.
According to Yemen News Agency, the meeting was dedicated to discussing areas of cooperation between the ministries of Electricity, Energy and Water; Agriculture and Fisheries; Water Resources; and Administration, Local and Rural Development, as well as the authorities for Rural Water Projects and Water Resources and Facilities, to ensure water security and the development of water resources.
Discussions also covered the Ministry of Electricity, Energy and Water's plan for the year 1448 AH, aligning it with the directives of the Leader of the Revolution, Sayyed Abdulmalik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and the priorities of the Change and Construction Government, and working in accordance with the directives of the revolutionary and political leadership in this vital area.
The meeting addressed the Ministry of Electricity, Energy and Water's approach to activating the role of community initiatives and participation to achieve water security, the community's role in economic empowerment projects, supporting sustainable development efforts through drinking water projects in rural areas and their role in rural development, and the implementation of stalled water and electricity projects.
The meeting, attended by the Undersecretary for Rural Development at the Ministry of Administration and Local Development, Ahmed Al-Haij; the Assistant Undersecretary for the Water Sector, Engineer Abdul Salam Al-Hakimi; the Head of the Electrical Industries Corporation, Abdul Ghani Al-Madani; the Undersecretary of the Rural Water Projects Authority, Engineer Yahya Al-Shami; and the Executive Director of the Rural Electricity Authority, Engineer Nabil Muharram, also touched on aspects related to involving cooperative associations, mobilization forces, local authorities in the governorates, and the Rural Water Projects Authority in monitoring, oversight, and supervision of water and electricity projects.
The attendees reviewed the tasks of the ministries of Electricity and Water; Agriculture and Fisheries and Water Resources; and Administration, Local and Rural Development, and their relationship to community participation and sustainability, along with an evaluation of the performance of water projects, including those in Harf Sufyan, Al-Qubaytah, Jum'at Bin Fadl (Wald Ayyash), and the Bani Sayah sub-district.
The meeting addressed the role of the Rural Water and Electricity Authority and the Intervention Unit in implementing sustainable water projects that contribute to preserving water security, and the community's role in managing, maintaining, and developing drinking water projects in rural areas and generating new water projects to ensure their sustainability, as well as other projects that serve the community, and how to link these projects to modern development cooperatives that include the development army from the general mobilization.
Mechanisms were also discussed for recovering the value of solar systems to recycle their funds into new projects and transitioning to water harvesting projects with manual wells in areas where artesian wells are not sustainable, in addition to problems arising from sanitation in rural areas and ways to develop necessary solutions and treatments.
During the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Administration, Local and Rural Development, emphasized the importance of enhancing integration and coordination between the ministries of Local Administration; Electricity and Water; and Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, and their affiliated bodies, to ensure the mobilization of government and community efforts to achieve water security and develop and sustain water resources.
He explained that the current phase requires involving local authorities in the governorates, modern development cooperative associations, and mobilization forces in planning, follow-up, monitoring, and supervision of the implementation of water and electricity projects, noting that activating the community role constitutes a fundamental pillar for supporting comprehensive rural development and advancing vital services in various regions.
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Electricity, Energy and Water affirmed the Ministry's interest in implementing water projects in rural areas, translating the directives of the Leader of the Revolution, Sayyed Abdulmalik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and the guidance of the President of the Supreme Political Council, and the matrix of programs of the Change and Construction Government.
He noted the Ministry's directions in activating community participation to manage and support drinking water projects in rural areas, working to complete the implementation of stalled water and electricity projects, and finding solutions to problems arising from sanitation in rural areas.
Meanwhile, the Undersecretary of the Water Resources and Facilities Authority, Engineer Al-Sufyani, pointed to the Authority's efforts in preserving water security and developing and sustaining water resources, especially given the critical condition of water basins due to the indiscriminate depletion of groundwater.
The meeting was enriched with a number of opinions, interventions, and extensive discussions by attendees, which collectively affirmed the commitment to crystallize ideas and proposals into practical executive programs that ensure the sustainability of drinking water projects in rural areas, develop water resources, and preserve water security.
The meeting concluded with a number of recommendations, most notably the assignment of a team from the ministries of Administration, Local and Rural Development; Agriculture and Fisheries and Water Resources; and Electricity, Energy and Water, to develop and implement what was agreed upon in the meeting's outcomes, as well as to find appropriate solutions and work on evaluating the regulations and systems governing the preservation of water security.