Chapter
9:
Case
studies
in
Ta’izz
•
•
•
•
In
the
districts
of
the
Annashamah
area,
some
locals
complained
to
the
local
council
that
certain
individuals
have
rented
their
lands
to
people
from
outside
the
area
to
grow
qat.
Those
qat
traders
come
from
Mawyah
district
where
water
wells
and
sources
have
dried
up
due
to
qat
irrigation.
Farms
that
used
to
grow
vegetables
and
fruits
have
died
because
a
qat
“businessman”
from
Dhalee
governorate
rented
a
plot
of
land
and
used
the
water
to
irrigate
his
qat
instead.
Water
is
pumped/transferred
kilometers
away.
More
than
80%
of
water
wells
have
dried
up
since
2005
due
to
the
lack
of
rain
and
overuse
of
water.
Laws
and
Urf
•
•
•
Laws
are
unclear,
ambiguous,
and
weak.
Moreover,
enforcement
is
difficult,
as
the
judge
does
not
have
clear
laws
that
he
can
rely
on.
There
are
no
traditional
rules
to
regulate
water
use.
Privately
owned
water
sources
are
totally
unregulated.
Due
to
its
destructive
impact
on
the
ground
water
level,
the
General
Secretary
of
Almaafer
suggests
a
new
law
that
would
prohibit
the
use
of
water
to
irrigate
Qat.
Law
enforcement
•
•
•
•
•
Law
enforcement
authorities
are
totally
ineffective.
According
to
the
security
officer
who
attended
the
meeting,
the
authorities
arrest
those
involved
in
violations
and
refer
to
them
to
the
prosecution
service,
but
the
prosecution
service
does
not
proceed
any
further.
The
security
services
arrest
individuals,
bury
illegally
dug
wells
etc.
However,
they
sometimes
face
resistance
from
locals.
“Without
cooperation
from
the
community
it
is
very
difficult
for
us
to
do
our
work”,
according
to
a
security
officer.
People
go
to
local
councils
and
security
to
complain
about
water
issue 2