Just in:
Sunshine’s Debut Features Leave Tech World Scratching Its Head // U.S. Compliance Takes Center Stage at OKX Following Industry Jitters // Ingdan Announces 2023 Annual Results // Ajman Celebrates Conclusion of Ramadan Activities with Grand Ceremony // First-Ever Fortune Innovation Forum Draws Top Global Leaders to Hong Kong, Promoting Agendas On Collective Cross-Sector Advancement // Melco Style Presents “SANRIO CHARACTERS STUDIO CITY CARNIVAL” – Explore a SANRIO World of Unlimited Love and Cuteness // Universal Language for Healthcare: General Authority Embraces Global Coding System // No running of govt from jail, says Delhi Lt Governor // CABSAT 2024 Ushers in 30 Years of Media Innovation // Arvind Kejriwal Was Used By BJP In 2011 Movement To Take On The Congress // German Job Market Resilience Bodes Well for Economic Recovery // US reiterates concern over Kejriwal arrest, Cong accounts // Sharjah Chamber Breaks Ground on Final Expansion with New HQ Pact // Emirati Aid Reaches Ukraine as Food Shortages Bite // French Leaders Gather for Interfaith Iftar Dinner // Andertoons by Mark Anderson for Thu, 28 Mar 2024 // New Nylon Constant Torque Hinge From Southco Provides Position Control In A Compact Package // Infineon and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering jointly develop ship electrification technology // Sharpening the Focus: Sharjah Health Department Refines Evaluation Criteria for “Healthy Schools Programme” // Konica Minolta is named ASEAN 2023 Market Leader in Colour Light and Mid Digital Production Printers //
HomeWorldYemen's toxic trash mountain adds to war woes

Yemen's toxic trash mountain adds to war woes

ADVERTISEMENT

DUBAI Many disasters loom over one of the poorest countries in the Middle East as it suffers through nearly two years of war, among them a colossal pile of waste outside Yemen’s capital leeching toxic waste into its diminishing water supply.

Hardly a paragon of waste management before the war, Sanaa was at least able to separate out the most dangerous materials from the 10-million-ton hill thanks to a nearby treatment plant.

No longer. The facility was bombed by a Saudi-led military coalition battling the armed Houthi movement which controls the capital in June of last year and again last December.

Now vast stinking pools created in part by untreated medical waste accumulate at the pile’s base, threatening to contaminate the water supply for the parched city which experts have long predicted will be the first capital to use up all its water.

“The main problem we’re now facing is in the management of waste in Yemen that is posing a real danger to the general health of residents,” said Professor Mohammed al-Qahali, head of the science and technology department at Sanaa University.

Al-Qahali warned that the pools of contaminated waste contained “hazardous chemicals that could cause a variety of diseases including cancers, birth defects, immunological disorders and many other diseases.”

“THE SMELL OF ROT”

The United Nations estimates that over four-fifths of Yemen’s 28 million people need some form of humanitarian aid as a near-blockade on Yemen’s ports and fighting have devastated the fragile economy, spreading hunger and disease.

Saudi Arabia and its mostly Gulf Arab allies have launched thousands of air strikes against the Houthis in a bid to restore Yemen’s exiled government to power.

While the bombings have repeatedly hit homes, schools, hospitals, bridges, markets and other civilian infrastructure, the coalition says it takes pains not to target innocents and blames the Houthis for deploying in civilian areas.

As U.N.-backed peace efforts have repeatedly failed to stop the fighting, residents living near the growing heap have seen their lives become more unbearable.

“At night I cover my mouth (from the smell), the smell of rot wakes me from my sleep, and it has only gotten worse since they struck the recycling plant,” Shayef al-Asri said.

But the crisis may be more than a disgusting inconvenience and may threaten to end more than two millennia of urban civilization in the capital, said environment professor at Sanaa University Khaled al-Thor.

“It requires expertise and an immediate resolution, otherwise … Sanaa will disappear from the map.”

(Writing By Noah Browning; Editing by Peter Hobson)

-Reuters

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT
Just in:
Andertoons by Mark Anderson for Thu, 28 Mar 2024 // Global Audience to Witness Thrill of Dubai World Cup // German Job Market Resilience Bodes Well for Economic Recovery // New Nylon Constant Torque Hinge From Southco Provides Position Control In A Compact Package // Emirati Aid Reaches Ukraine as Food Shortages Bite // Following the Money Trail: US and UK Investigate $20 Billion in USDT Transfers Tied to Sanctioned Russian Exchange // Konica Minolta is named ASEAN 2023 Market Leader in Colour Light and Mid Digital Production Printers // Lisboeta Macau’s world first LINE FRIENDS PRESENTS CASA DE AMIGO and BROWN & FRIENDS CAFE & BISTRO has officially opened // Universal Language for Healthcare: General Authority Embraces Global Coding System // Emirates Post Speeds Up Deliveries for GCC with Special Day // Sharpening the Focus: Sharjah Health Department Refines Evaluation Criteria for “Healthy Schools Programme” // Experience Ultimate Shopping Freedom at 4.4 Shopee Spree: Don’t Worry, Shop Shopee! // U.S. Compliance Takes Center Stage at OKX Following Industry Jitters // No running of govt from jail, says Delhi Lt Governor // Samsung Partners National Heritage Board to Bring a Slice of Singapore’s Cultural Heritage to Samsung The Frame TV // Sharjah Chamber Breaks Ground on Final Expansion with New HQ Pact // Sunshine’s Debut Features Leave Tech World Scratching Its Head // US reiterates concern over Kejriwal arrest, Cong accounts // 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Will Be The Costliest One Till Now In The Whole World // Melco Style Presents “SANRIO CHARACTERS STUDIO CITY CARNIVAL” – Explore a SANRIO World of Unlimited Love and Cuteness //