Chapter
9:
Case
studies
in
Ta’izz
9.5
Case
9
-‐
Qurada
and
Al
Marzuaah
village
9.5.1
Overview
of
the
conflict
In
1997,
a
dispute
over
water
arose
between
two
villages.
The
story
began
in
the
mid-‐1990s,
when
one
village
–
Qurada
-‐
received
money
from
the
Government’s
rural
water
supply
agency
to
rehabilitate
the
village
piped
water
supply
system.
This
system
was
fed
from
their
springs
that
flowed
into
a
collection
tank.
However,
the
tank
was
situated
uphill
of
a
spring
that
belonged
to
a
second
village,
Al
Marzooh.
Al
Marzooh
became
afraid
that
the
project
would
reduce
the
flow
into
their
spring.
The
dispute
lasted
until
2001,
left
many
dead,
and
had
to
be
resolved
in
the
Court
of
Appeal
after
the
intervention
of
the
army
and
the
President
of
the
Republic.
9.5.2
A:
Context
and
contextual
changes
The
villages
of
Quradah
and
Merzah
are
located
in
the
governorate
of
Ta’izz
in
the
district
of
Saber
Almawadem
in
the
west
part
of
Yemen.
The
population
of
Quradah
is
around
6000,
the
population
of
Merzah
is
around
1000
according
to
an
NWRA
staff
report.
The
two
villages
are
located
on
opposite
sides
of
the
wadi
called
Saylat
Aloun.
Here
the
mountain
of
Aloun
is
located
with
the
springs
over
which
the
conflict
arose.
The
conflict
between
the
two
villages
is
on
the
share
of
the
water
produced
by
springs.
The
two
villages
mainly
use
the
water
mainly
for
drinking
purposes
and
for
irrigation.
According
to
reports
and
from
the
interview
the
two
villages
have
their
own
sources
of
water,
each
from
specific
springs
that
have
been
known
to
each
other
for
dozens
of
years.
This
division
was
based
on
old
rulings
and
courts
judgments,
the
oldest
dating
back
to
87
1002
by
the
Hegry
calendar,
about
435
years
ago.
In
the
mid
1970s
Quradah
village
had
constructed
a
water
collection
tank
and
replaced
the
old
conveying
open
canal
system
with
steel
pipes.
According
to
all
interviewees,
they
faced
no
objection
or
rejection
from
the
Merzah
people.
9.5.3
B:
Conflict
*FW67&