[Kabar-indonesia] Spring water a blessing for refugees in Aceh Jaya [+Pakistan H2O clash kills 14]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: Fourteen die as Pakistan tribes clash over water

The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Spring water a blessing for refugees in Aceh Jaya 

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Aceh Jaya

photo: photo: Abundant Water: A woman washes vegetables she has prepared for 
cooking at a spring in Sayeung village, Mukim Rigaih, Aceh Jaya. Displaced 
people in the village expressed gratitude that they live in a shelter where water 
is in abundance. (JP/Nani Afrida) 

While water shortages have affected most of the tsunami refugees in the Aceh 
Jaya regency, this is not the case with refugees at Sayeung village at Mukim 
Rigaih.

They live near a water spring and can wash, cook and bathe in clean water. 

Refugee Jamaliah, 33 and mother of three children, thanks God for the water. 

"We feel grateful ... if we lived at a refugee center but it was burdened 
with a water shortage, I don't know what life would be like," said Jamaliah, who 
was evacuated from Kampong Baro village, about 100 meters from Sayeung. 

The water spring in Sayeung supplies water to about 2,500 people, including 
local villagers and evacuees from Lhok Buya village. Residents from nearby 
Calang and other villages frequently go to the spring to take baths or wash their 
clothes. 

Locals said before the tsunami the spring at Sayeung constituted just a small 
pond. 

"The water originates from a nearby hill. It has never dried up," said Anwar 
Ibrahim, head of Mukim Rigaih. 

After the tsunami, with many refugees needing water, the Concern 
International Project dug the spring and created special pipelines to accommodate more 
water. Now the outflow from the spring reaches 20 liters per second. 

"We hope the increasing amount of water will be useful to help other 
refugees. We know how difficult it is for the refugees to get drinking water," Anwar 
Ibrahim said. 

Ibrahim and the residents of Sayeung village are worried, however, by the 
heavy stone mining being conducted in hills in which the spring comes from. They 
fear the uncontrolled mining of the high-quality stones will disrupt the water 
supply. 

"However, we are just ordinary people ... all policy depends on the 
government," Anwar said. 

It is no secret that water is a serious problem in post-tsunami Aceh Jaya 
regency. Most refugees depend non-governmental organizations for water for 
cooking. To bathe or wash clothes, people use well water which has been contaminated 
with sea water. 

On certain occasions, water supplies have been delayed to the area and 
refugees have been forced to drink the contaminated water. 

There has been a program to clean up the wells in Aceh Jaya through draining, 
but the water in most wells remains undrinkable. 

------------------------------------------

AFP, June 20, 2006

Fourteen die as Pakistan tribes clash over water
 
Pakistani authorities have negotiated a temporary truce after at least 14 
people died and 35 were wounded in a gunbattle between two tribes over access to 
water.

The rival groups left their hillside trenches after two days of fighting with 
assault rifles and rocket launchers near Parachinar, the main town in the 
Kurram tribal agency bordering Afghanistan, a government statement said Tuesday.

"The clashes left 14 people dead and 35 wounded from the two sides," local 
administration chief Mohammad Saleem Khan said in the statement.

The shootout erupted on Monday when members of one clan diverted water from a 
canal near Parachinar and attacked farmers from a rival tribe when they 
demanded a share.

The two sides took up positions on nearby hills and heavy firing continued 
until midday Tuesday, residents said. The authorities arranged a council of 
tribal elders to negotiate with leaders of the feuding tribes.

"A ceasefire has been arranged and the armed men have come out of their 
trenches," Khan said.

The tribal council is also engaged in negotiating a settlement of the water 
dispute, he added.

Police and paramilitary soldiers have been deployed amid tensions in the 
area, he said.

------------------------------------------
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------