Kuwait will from August 1 start rationing water supplies to parts of the capital with the highest rates of consumption, a newspaper reported Sunday, July 15.
Al-Qabas said the measure adopted in the summer peak season comes after the electricity and water ministry was forced to dip into the water resources of Kuwait, which has one of the highest per capita consumption rates in the world.
The ministry had warned consumers to rationalize their use of water and that it could cut back on supplies. More than 90 percent of Kuwait's supplies come from costly desalination, with water heavily subsidized by the state.
Rationing is to be introduced in suburbs of Kuwait City with high consumption rates, a number of government establishments and farm areas, ministry sources told Al-Qabas.
Under a five-year development plan, the Gulf emirate plans to boost non-oil revenues by hiking charges on public services and utilities including water and electricity.
Kuwait is in negotiations with a British-led consortium on building a two-billion-dollar pipeline to import fresh water from Iran.
The Arab world wastes more than half of its water resources every year through inefficient irrigation, leaking pipes and consumer recklessness, according to organizers of a water conference held in Beirut last month. ― (AFP, Kuwait city)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
