Sewage, waste blocks rain drains in downpour; Negligence rife in deluge fight

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KUWAIT CITY, July 23: With the Ministry of Works (MPW) raising the slogan of early preparation for the coming winter and initiating measures to remedy the situation, well-informed sources in the ministry confirmed that there is negligence on the part of some government agencies, such as the Municipality and the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fisheries Resources (PAAAFR), about preparing for the rainy season, which portends a real catastrophe whose repercussions exceed what the country witnessed during the past years, especially if the country receives ‘patchy’ torrential rains, reports Al-Jarida daily.

File photo of one of the roads submerged under rainwater

The sources told the daily there are many violations that are still ongoing, most notably the linkage of sewage networks and miscellaneous waste to the rainwater network by government agencies and citizens, in addition to agricultural waste, which constitutes a major factor in the blockage of sewage drains, and costs the state huge sums of money annually to remove it.

The sources stated that construction waste constitutes an additional reason for the problem of closing sewers, as well as building deep basements many of which were flooded during previous years, stressing that this requires the Municipality to reconsider a construction violation. The sources explained that the ministry’s efforts, which were launched recently in preparation for the upcoming winter, remain unable on their own to contain the repercussions of these violations, and the failure of the relevant government agencies to play their role to prevent the disaster. The sources confirmed that the ministry is currently racing against time to clean areas in all governorates in accordance with the plan put in place by the maintenance sector, indicating that the ministry did not have a budget for nearly 4 years to clean up those water drainage and other networks.

The sources added that the initial work to clean the rain sewage shows a large accumulation of waste, which requires double efforts during the period between the rainy season, pointing out that there are immediate, medium-term and long-term solutions to the problem during the flooding of the country due torrential rains, but it needs a budget of no less than 20 million dinars. The sources pointed out that the Minister of Works Ali Al-Mousa has directed the Civil Defense department to print a guidebook so as not to conflict with the work of the state authorities that participate in rain preparations, in addition to training field teams to deal with those natural disasters, transferring equipment to critical areas and operating them, and ensuring their safety.

Al-Mousa has also directed to launch an extensive campaign in various governorates to keep in check violators of the law, while at the same time stressing the need for the Municipality to cooperate in cases of construction violations that cause disasters during the rains, and activating the role of the judicial police in detecting these violations and taking legal action in their regard.

This news has been read 12157 times!

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