According to the last official census, only 16 percent of Yemeni population enjoys sanitation services, mainly in the biggest cities like Sana'a, Taiz, Aden, Al-Mukalla, Hodeidah, Ibb. Sometimes, such services exist in small towns like Yareem, Zabid, etc.

Over 75 percent of Yemen's population lives in rural areas and these areas lack in water, let alone sanitation services. Sewage is either discarded in watercourses or taken through pipes onto open ground in most villages across the country.

Very few people will dig small lantern in the ground to get rid of waste water, while others have it poured to roads and behind the houses, therefore causing more damage to our environment.

The United Nations Development Program’s Development Report 2007 indicated that about 43 percent of the population use improved sanitation service, implying connection to a public sewer, connection to a septic tank system, pit latrines or ventilated improved pit latrines.

Suffering in some areas

Towns like Al-Qaeda, Ibb, suffer badly from the lack of sanitation services and this is seen everywhere in the city. The city's streets flow with waste water and though the problems have been existent for years, the concerned authorities have done nothing to alleviate people's suffering.

Even in cities where sanitation services exist, some zones and areas inside these cities lack services, especially those located somewhere outside these cities as well as those zones which are recently built.

Ibrahim Hassan, a private sector employee, indicates that Al-Qaeda locals suffer badly from piping out the waste water from houses, hinting that locals' problems expand in summer when rains fall, leaving behind big ponds of rain water mixed with sanitation water.

"Wherever you go, you are encompassed by the bad smelling of sanitation water which flows from the lanterns and fills streets. It seems that local authorities are unconcerned about the suffering of locals, especially when the sewage water is responsible for the increased number of malaria and diarrhea cases caused by mosquitoes and flies respectively," said Hassan.

Though some villagers dig some pit lanterns, it does not take them long, until they flow with waste water, covering neighboring areas.

"Some people have pit lanterns to receive the waste water from houses; however they get filled after a certain period of time and thus they flow to the open, and people become incapable of doing anything to prevent the flowing," added Hassan.

Similarly, hundreds of Bani Al-Harth locals, especially those residing very close to the sanitation treatment plant, complain that their lands have been robbed for building the plant and further they feel unhappy with being located in their lands.

When coming near Sana'a International Airport, a person feels disgusted of the bad smelling.

Further, most residents of capital cities complain that sanitation services are too expensive and bills will charge equal value  to both water and sanitation services and thus have to be for water incoming to your house as well as for getting it out.

"Water Corporation charged me YR 1,500 for water that is pumped once a week and an equal sum was required for sanitation services that are added to the water bill," said Sana'a city resident Mohammed Al-Adwar.

Environmental problems

The irrational treatment of sanitation water is responsible for the pollution of water sources. It is also responsible for several diseases including diarrhea and some other skin-related diseases.

Thus, they are suitable environments for the spread and growth of mosquitoes which are cause malaria. The government in collaboration with donor countries has a program for fighting malaria and millions of dollars are being spent in an effort to rid of it.

Mabkhout Thabet from a small village close to Ibb city hints that they used to have no bathrooms in the past and locals used to discard the water used for household purposes to close lands.

"It was only recently, that we built a small bathroom and the waste water is pumped out on to the nearby open ground. Very often, waste water gets dried by sun-heat and air. Some other houses discard big quantities of waste water to the extent that sun-heat and air are incapable of drying it," observes Thabet.

He adds that the waste water is discarded somewhere close to the populated area and this upsets locals, especially because of the bad smell they bring out day and night.