KSA residents protest fines for 'wasting water'

Residents of east Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are protesting fines imposed on them for allegedly “wasting water,” calling the punishments “unjust and unfair,” the Arab News said Saturday.

 

According to the report, the residents called on the National Water Company (NWC) to make the punishments for water wastage public through the media and the law.

 

The complainants reasoned that “they had to know the types of violations to avoid committing them in the first place,” it added.

 

Sheikh Ali Al-Hakami, a member of the Supreme Council of Scholars in Jeddah asked the NWC to “decide if the leakage is deliberate or accidental before they register any violation against any citizen.”

 

He likewise suggested that the water company warn those who commit of on their first offense and impose a fine in the succeeding violations.

 

Lawyer Tariq Hamood Al-Ibrahim seconded Al-Hakami’s recommendation, saying the system of violations “should be legalized and made clear to citizens… so that they [will be] able to find out the nature of the violation they have committed and the fine they have to pay.”

 

In interviews conducted by the local daily Al-Madinah, resident Ahmed Al-Mitairi and his neighbor, Awad Al-Johani, said the NWC puts them through “repeated water cuts,” forcing them to “stand for long hours at the water stations to be able to buy a water tanker.”

 

Al-Mitairi, who said he uses one gallon of water weekly to clean the entrance of his house, said: “Every time I do this, I would receive a violation ticket for wasting water. Is it fair to pay a fine of SR200 every time I wash the entrance of my house or wash my car?”

 

Another resident, Falih Al-Qahtani, said: “It’s not right to leave a small piece of paper at the door or on the water meter informing residents about the violations,” adding that the NWC must deliver the violation slips and have offenders sign an official acknowledgment.

 

Former general court Sheikh Saeed bin Awad Al-Asmari—who would represent the residents of the Al-Musaid and Abruq Al-Righama districts in negotiations with the NWC—said he has reached out to the company but it has yet to respond.

 

The KSA is the top destination country for Filipino migrant workers. Statistics from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) show that there are about 1.2 million Filipinos in the oil-rich kingdom. — TJD, GMA News