Modeled after the famous TV serial 'the Road to Kabul', it came my title and reportage about the road to Al-Jawf Province, some 140 km northwest of the capital Sana'a.

The province is bordered by Saudi Arabia on the north, Sa'ada province to the west, Sana'a governorate to the south, Mareb province to the southeast and Hadramout province on the east. Al-Hazm is its capital city and the majority of the population lives there or its suburbs.

Al-Jawf is the fourth-largest province in Yemen with a total area of 39,500 km2 and accommodates one of the most famous valleys in the country, Wadi Mathab, which stretches for about 400 km.

The floods of Sana'a, Sa'ada and Amran provinces flow to this valley making it one of the most fertile and arable lands. However, the province remains one of the poorest provinces in Yemen.

According to the last census, over 400,000 people live in Al-Jawf province and distributed in 12 districts; however, most locals doubt this number as well as our companion Abdullah Askar who hints that the number is exaggerated.

Askr assures that some district locals do not report the right number in an effort to force state to provide basic services, or for using them in rigging elections, citing Al-Muton district as an example where the real number could exceed 70,000 while the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum's registry speaks of some 40,000 voters.

The province, ranked by some as one of the remote Yemeni provinces, suffers the lack of basic services including water, health, electricity, telecommunications and roads. The illiteracy figures reach record levels, and very few locals have certificates higher than the secondary school certificate.

Dozens of Al-Jawf locals blame their poverty on the continuous differences and revenge killing as well as the weak presence of state authorities and appalling illiteracy figures. The illiteracy and uncivil dealings of locals prompted some people to admit that they finds difficulties in their daily dealings with the locals.

Al-Jawf monuments

Al-Jawf was a cradle for famous ancient Yemeni civilizations and states which left behind not finished monuments.

Several Al-Hazm inhabitants confess that monuments of sites like Al-Ma'amorah (known among locals and in history books as Braqish), some 2 km from Al-Hazm city center, have been raided and uncontrollably unearthed by locals in search for gold, precious stones and other monuments which are sold to smugglers and traders.

A German mission is now working in Al-Ma'amorah, and it is guarded by security forces after authorities started to feel the province's historic importance. However, devastating and destructive activities by locals are constant in other sites like Tamna' and Ma'een (known among locals as Qarnaw).  

Revenge killings

Al-Jawf came in first place as for the number of registered cases of revenge killings and locals hint that authorities are responsible for fomenting and reviving revenge killings in the province.

In this respect, Abdul Hadi Farhan from Al-Hazm states that there is no family living in Al-Jawf peacefully, as most if not all locals are bothered, and have a revenge killing case. Others bitterly criticize local authorities, dignitaries and Sheikhs for failing to resolve revenge issues or even to submit proposal for rooting out this problem.

They also declare that both illiteracy and revenge killings are responsible for making the province lag behind others, especially in the fields of development. 

Road blockade

Wherever you direct your eyes, you cannot fail to see the armed manifestations as arms are seen in all occasions. It is also the first thing locals resort to in order to force a solution or even to negotiate.

When we were traveling back to Sana'a following a journalistic mission to Al-Hazm accompanying the Japanese deputy ambassador, whose country helped finance restoring and equipping the province's single medical center, we were denied passing the main road by a group of armed men.

We thanked god because the Japanese diplomat, who was in a meeting with Al-Jawf governor Fadhl Al-Qusi, was not with us to see such an disgraceful situation. The only attendees were the journalists.

The interceptors ordered us to return back to Al-Hazm. They also told us that we are government officials and we came with the Telecommunication Minister Kamal Al-Jabri, whom we suddenly met over a meal banquet at Al-Qusi's house.

With their arms loaded at us, we were almost taken as hostages. Surprisingly they started telling us their demands as if we were the government. To our shock, their demand was an electricity project from locals in that area!!!

Medical services in Al-Jawf

Most districts in Al-Jawf suffer the lack of medical services. Even when some districts have medical centers, they do not have a cadre to run them, nor medical equipments or medicines.

The case is somewhat different in Al-Hazm where three private centers as well as a government center exists. The government center was recently equipped by Japanese friends and it provides primary health services.

With introduction of the new equipments, the center, named as typical, will provide better services according to its manager Hussein Aiyash though it has just one general practitioner, one lab technician, a dentist and very few assistant doctors and midwives.

Aiyash still reveals that his center, the only one in the province, receives about 100 – 150 cases everyday; however, it badly lacks an operation room for women to give birth and doctors, hinting that midwives do such a task instead.

Al-Hazm Central Hospital

There exists a central hospital which is fully equipped and prepared; however, it is not working because of problems over its administration, and the land plot on which the hospital was built on.

Locals point out that the hospital was built in the 1980s and it remained shut until 2003 when a field committee visited the hospital and reported that neither the building nor the equipments are functional anymore.

Later, the hospital was restored and maintained with 1.2 million euros and the official authorities managed not to run it, and it has been clear the hospital will not work, mainly because of authorities weak presence in the province where everything is resolved through tribal arbitration.

To our surprise, we saw two big trucks parking before the governor's house and we were told that they belong to two brothers working on contracting, and they brought them to the governor to tribally arbitrate and solve their pending differences.

Summary

The situation of the province is awful with illiteracy hitting the highest numbers. In return, official authorities do nothing to improve the situation, especially at educational and health levels.

They also exert no efforts to resolve the pending issues of revenge killings in the province, a key reason for its backwardness. Still, the Ministry of Agriculture is demanded to help locals with cultivating their lands and providing them with tractors and other equipments.