In the near future the project will help in improving the public health, as well as the marine environment.
For years, families in Aden have suffered from overflowing drains. Wastewater flooded homes, spreading illness and forcing residents to evacuate for days at a time.
An Oxfam project worked to solve this issue by transporting waste to be properly processed in treatment plants.
“The initiative was driven by the commitment of the Ministry of Water and Environment, the Local Corporation for Water and Sanitation, and Oxfam. It aimed to eliminate this environmental disaster and protect Aden and its residents, by transporting waste through pumping pipelines to treatment ponds for proper processing.— Monther Hamed Alattar, Public Health Engineering – Senior Engineer.
Rebuilding essential services became one of the biggest challenges. Infrastructure was damaged, and restoring it required time, funding and perseverance.
Oxfam designed the full system covering four districts and implemented the Khor Maksar section, through which all district flows pass and shared the design with partners. UNOPS is implementing the other three districts. Instead of discharging into the sea, the new system now pumps wastewater directly to the treatment plant outside the city, protecting both people and the environment.
Currently, Khor Maksar station is operating, pumping wastewater to the treatment plant and serving over 96,743 residents. Once the other three districts’ projects are complete, more than 370,811 people will benefit.
The wastewater rehabilitation project is significant. Marine life will slowly recover, since waste that used to go into the sea will no longer be dumped. The fish habitats are improving, which will lead to increased growth.— Abdullah, a Fisherman.
