Week without water at Kabkabiya camps in North Darfur

The population of the camps for the displaced in Kabkabiya, North Darfur, have been suffering from a severe drinking water crisis for seven days. Since a week, pumps are providing water only two hours per day for the 79,000 displaced living in El Salam, El Matar, El Mawashi, and Sibak El Khel camps in Kabkabiya locality. One of the sheikhs of El Salam camp told Radio Dabanga that the displaced cannot pay the increased fees imposed by the National Association of Small Scale Farmers, which is in control of the water pumps.“The Association said they had to raise the fees because of the rising fuel prices. A displaced family, however, cannot afford to pay a monthly fee of SDG20 ($3.50). We are now suffering of a lack of water, because of our financial circumstances.” The sheikh requested organisations working in the field of water provision to help the displaced “as soon as possible”. “Since organisations like Oxfam UK were expelled in 2008, and Oxfam USA in 2013, and the farmers’ association took over the water management, we have been facing a lot of problems.” File photo: A Darfuri boy with water cans (Oxfam)