Raqqa rebuilds water, sewer infrastructure meter by meter
RAQQA, Syria — Destroyed by the Syrian and Islamic State (ISIS) conflicts, water and sewage systems are undergoing reconstruction in the northern city of Raqqa.
The Raqqa Sanitation Department is implementing the project.
“Our project was launched on February 2, 2019 with a timeline of four months. The project aims to rehabilitate the water and sewage networks in the city, mainly the infrastructure. The project entails rehabilitating 4.5 km of sewage networks and 6 km of water networks," Haitham al-Abed, the project manager, said.
Nearly 65 percent of the water and sewage networks in the city are damaged, according to officials.
"The Sanitation Department is replacing damaged sewage networks in several locations in al-Mashlab, al-Remila, al-Diriyah, al-Intifada, and al-Furat neighborhoods and several others," said Muhannad al-Sham, the head of the Raqqa Sanitation Department.
Raqqa's people are dependent upon local councils without any support from Damascus. They are supported by NGOs and donor nations of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
"The network is suffering many effects. The replacements comprise around 850 meters in al-Mashlab, 600 in al-Remila, 400 in al-Intifada and 350 in several locations in the city center," added Sham.
ISIS was declared militarily defeated in east of the Euphrates last month by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The extremists have since resorted to suicide and car bomb attacks in "liberated" areas and cities such as Raqqa.
Reporting by Arab24