Qatar Charity (QC) has started digging 27 wells in several regions of Somalia’s Hirshabelle State, and inaugurated an artesian water well in ‘Garasdheere’, a village in Hirshabelle, to benefit tens of thousands of families belonging to pastoral communities.
The project is part of Qatar Charity’s efforts to respond to drought and provide safe drinking water in Somalia’s remote, inaccessible and rugged areas that suffer from water scarcity.
The wells under construction are expected to meet the water needs of 13,000 families, while the completed well is expected to benefit 5,000 families from the village and other neighboring villages, in addition to meeting the water needs of their livestock.
The inaugural ceremony of the well named ‘Alrahma Well’ was attended by the official of the Balad district and the representatives of Hirshabelle’s Ministries of Water and Health, in addition to representatives of Qatar Charity’s Somalia office and many dignitaries of the district.
Mr. Qasim Ali Noor, the commissioner of the Balad district, thanked the donors of Qatar for their generous support. He also thanked Qatar Charity, which has always supported the impoverished and the needy in Somalia, especially in villages and rural areas, to meet their needs and provide them with the necessary services.
“The district’s population could hardly have access to clean water”, said the commissioner of the Balad district, adding that they had to fetch water by animals from the city of Balad, which is more than 7 kilometers away. He indicated that the ‘Alrahma Well’ is a major source to meet the water needs of the village and other neighboring villages.
Mr. Saleh Mohamed Hassan, Minister of Water and Energy in Hirshabelle State, thanked the Qatari government and people for providing the much-needed humanitarian assistance. He also applauded the role and humanitarian and developmental work of Qatar Charity across the state. “The inauguration of the ‘Alrahma Well’ will ease the burdens on the population and provide water services to them,” added the Minister.
Mr. Ahmed Moalem Ali, a notable person from the ‘Garasdheere’ village, said that many livestock died due to the lack of sufficient water, adding that, because of Qatar Charity’s ‘Alrahma Well’, the people forgot all the suffering they had to go through.
It is worth noting that Qatar Charity has always attached significant attention to the water sector of Somalia, which has seen successive droughts. Qatar Charity has implemented 421 water projects in the country, benefiting more than one million people in 2019. In 2018, it dug 44 artesian wells and 371 surface wells, in addition to digging 6 ponds in different governorates and regions of Somalia.
