Water Costs Rise 75% in Yemen's Taiz as Supply Routes Are Blocked
Truck drivers are tripling rates and families are buying on credit as Houthi forces tighten their hold around the city.
By Sarah Montgomery ·
Water prices in the Yemeni city of Taiz have climbed by as much as 75% in recent weeks, according to aid groups and residents, as Houthi forces restrict access to the roads and wells outside the city. More than 1 million people live inside the siege, and humanitarian organizations say their basic needs are barely being met.
Hadil al-Shahid, who owns a hair salon, said her household once used about 10 liters of bottled water a day for drinking and cooking for herself and her two children. That same supply now lasts about four days. "We stopped drinking coffee and tea, which we used to drink daily," she said by phone. Some residents have begun buying water on credit, and truckers who still make the trip into the city have at times tripled their rates.
The city's water utility and desalination plants are running below capacity as fuel supplies dwindle, and access to outside wells has been cut off. Yemeni Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba has acknowledged the tightening Houthi grip on the area.
The shortage extends beyond water. Cooking gas prices have more than quadrupled, according to Hani Bafaqih of the aid group CARE, and flour and rice cost about 50% more than they did in the summer. Hani Bafaqih said some families are burning wood, charcoal or cardboard to cook. Fuel shortages have shut down waste collection and reduced community kitchens.
Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for a UN emergency aid division, said some displaced families live in tents or makeshift shelters and eat one meal a day. He warned that shortages feed into each other and raise the risk of disease, including cholera, particularly as families use unprotected wells. Amnesty International has urged the Houthis to open roads into Taiz immediately, saying the city is being pushed to the brink of a severe humanitarian disaster.
Taiz province has absorbed about 124,000 people displaced elsewhere in Yemen since August, according to UN migration experts. Ahmed Abdel Gaber, who is sheltering in a ruined building with nine relatives, said his income hauling construction material has become unsteady. "We heavily rely on assistance and donations from people to get food," he said. Al-Shahid said she had to close her salon as customers put food and water first, and her children now eat mostly rice, bread and cheese.
The Houthis captured the port city of Mokha, about 130 kilometers away, last month and have advanced on Taiz since. Ahmed Nagi of the International Crisis Group said any attempt to seize parts of the city would likely mean a prolonged and costly battle. Houthi officials say their forces control about 80% of the countryside around Taiz and several neighborhoods inside it. Houthi missiles struck a residential area earlier this week, killing two teenage girls. Al-Shahid said she cannot afford to leave: "Staying in our home is inevitable," she said, "whether it be a matter of life or death."
