Yemenis living under Houthi control were shocked by the economically crippling hike in water tariffs imposed by the Iran-backed group, especially when the United Nations is providing fuel assistance to pumping stations supplying facilities in insurgency territories.
Houthis more than doubled costs, despite international organizations bearing much of the burden of paying the salaries of civil servants, like trash collectors, and supplying free fuel to run generators powering hospitals and health centers.
Residents in Sanaa and Ibb said that monthly water bills reached ridiculous rates.
They also reported that when they protested doubled charges to the insurgency’s water management authorities, they were informed that the increase was proportionally linked to high fuel costs.
According to locals, Houthis raised costs from YER 90 to YER 195, with the US dollar trading at an estimated YER 600.
The stepped-up prices constitute a new blow to millions of residents who live on aid provided by relief organizations.
Moreover, public employees in militia-controlled areas continue to work for the fifth year without pay from the Houthi’s general treasury.
Moaz, a resident of the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, reported being staggeringly shocked after receiving a YER 25,000 outstanding water bill for May.
The preceding water bill he had paid for April totaled no more than YER 8,000, half of which was accounted for as sewage and sanitary fees.
“The hike in prices is insane,” Moaz told Asharq Al-Awsat, questioning Yemenis’ capacity to pay such high costs at a time they are either unemployed or working unpaying jobs.
“How can people pay such amounts ?” he said, adding that the people’s protesting went unheard by Houthi authorities.
On Thursday, crowds of Sanaa locals rallied against the surge in prices front water management headquarters in the capital under the suspicion that there was an error carried forward in their outstanding bills for May.
Many are warning that the hike will push people to resort to using dirty water sources, which risks another cholera outbreak.
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