Port Sudan areas “still cut-off from water service”

Districts in Port Sudan are still cut off from water services following protests against the water outages, amid the heat that has led to residents suffering from sunstroke.

Journalist Osman Hashim told Radio Dabanga that the Government of Red Sea state has breached its obligation to provide water to the districts of El Matar and El Mirghaniya.

Women had carried out a protest and blocked the streets of the two districts on 9 July, demanding the dismissal of the director of the Port Sudan Water Corporation for failing to resolve the water crisis for more than three months.

Hashim said that the price for water is “still too high for people to pay”.

Statements by the Water Corporation Director of Port Sudan on the water availability are untrue, he said, as El Matar and El Merghaniya still have not seen water running out the tap points.

Meanwhile residents of Oseif complained about water pollution, with worms and insects.

Sunstroke

The death of a child, who suffered from a sunstroke, in Port Sudan in the first week of July and three people who died of sunstroke in the hospital on 13 July, sparked officials of the Ministry of Health into action. They called on the civil authorities to initiate awareness campaigns in Red Sea, in order for people to learn about sunstroke and the serious implications it can have.

The temperature gauge in Port Sudan remains stable at 43-42 degrees (108-107F).