From a Gift of God to a Valuable Economic Factor

Syria is the most arid country in the watershed of the Euphrates and Tigris. To alleviate the situation, Germany is pumping € 130 million into the Syrian water sector. Kristin Helberg reports on the work of German engineers in Damascus and Aleppo

Annely Korte sits in her sparsely furnished office in the Damascus waterworks and plans a workshop on the topic of wastewater. The four large water treatment plants in Syria are not maintained effectively enough, says Korte. "Instead of taking preventative measures, action is taken only after a breakdown," explains the 47-year-old, who works for the German Development Service (DED) in Syria.

A German specialist in wastewater treatment has the job of showing Syrian colleagues how to avoid emergencies by conducting routine control checks, doing regular clean-ups, and setting up a spare parts depot.

A dried out paradise

Just a five-minute walk from Korte's office in the center of Damascus flows the Barada, or all that remains of the once-mighty river – a narrow, odorous trickle of water. Fed from the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, the Barada made Damascus into a fertile oasis in the middle of a stone desert. At one time, its clear water flowed through the city's green gardens and fruit orchards – hence Damascus' moniker as "paradise on earth."

By the middle of the 20th century, there wasn't sufficient water for the city's rapidly growing population, and illegal wells were dug everywhere within the city limits, resulting in a sinking of the ground water table. Even today, unfiltered sewage water is seeping into the ground and contaminating the water below.

Wasteful use of water

Not only Damascus, but the whole of Syria is lacking an effective management system for water resources, says Johannes Wolfer, who works in the area surrounding Damascus on behalf of the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR).

According to the hydrologist, Syria has a relatively large amount of water for the region, but it is distributed very unevenly and therefore must be managed more carefully. Valuable drinking water should not be used to wash cars or irrigate fruit trees.

"In the long term, Syria has to move away from agriculture," says the specialist. In comparison to agriculture, more income can be generated though industry, tourism, and the service sector – with less use of water.

Even Majid Daud, a Syrian engineer who had studied in Germany and worked thirty years for the Ministry of Irrigation in Damascus, criticizes the wasteful use of water in agriculture. The government wants to remain as independent as possible from food imports, so it encourages the domestic cultivation of sugar beets, which require vast volumes of water. One kilogram of Syrian sugar costs five times as much as the world market price, explains Daud, who therefore feels Syria should import instead of producing sugar.

A new pricing system

The Syrian end-user, who until recently had to pay only one cent per cubic meter of water, must also do some rethinking. As the government can cover only half of the supply costs, a new pricing system has been introduced. Since 1 November 2007, the first 15 cubic meters of water will cost 3.5 euro cents each and subsequent consumption is charged in stages priced from three to twelve times as high.

The reason that price increases were not implemented sooner is due to cultural reasons, explains Majid. "Traditionally, Syrians regard water as a gift from God," says the engineer, "and one should therefore not charge money for it."

On the other hand, one should not waste a heavenly gift, argues Ute Al Tayep, who works for the DED in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and for months has attempted to convince her neighbours to be more economical with water when cleaning the staircase. "Houses are cleaned by spraying them from top to bottom with a hose," says the 29-year-old. The city is also facing an enormous water supply problem.

A public awareness campaign

In contrast to Damascus, Aleppo does not have its own source of water, but must transport its water from the Euphrates 120 kilometers away. By 2009, the water main, built in 2004, will no longer meet the needs of the city and its millions of inhabitants.

This is why per capita water consumption has been lowered from 130 to 80 liters a day. Al Tayep with a team from the waterworks began a public awareness campaign that addressed private homes, the authorities, schools, and religious leaders.

The German specialist was particularly impressed by the interest and support shown by Aleppo's approximately one hundred imams. "We had to hold the workshop between prayer sessions, because the imams had to hurry back to their mosques on time to head the noon prayers," said the young woman.

Difficult time management

Al Tayep is satisfied with her colleagues, even though she had to get used to their flexible working hours. State workers in Syria only earn about 120 euros a month, so they usually require additional jobs in order to feed their families. As a result, they only work three to four hours in the water treatment plant, often leaving the German expert alone on the site. "It is something you just have to accept," says Al Tayep.

She claims that it wouldn't achieve anything for a German expert to demand that everyone stayed at their posts from 8 to 3. "Then no one at all would work with me." Instead, she expects that her colleagues at least let her know when they will be at work so that she can plan her activities.

Respect for women experts

While Al Tayep, like most German experts, complains about the Syrian bureaucracy, Annely Korte praises the cooperation she enjoys with the authorities in Damascus as "impeccable." Her personal relations with Syrians has been good, stresses the 47-year-old. Her job is to establish a countrywide network of engineers, and, in socialist Syria, this often means dealing with women engineers.

She is taken seriously and respected as a woman, says Korte. As far as prejudices are concerned, she sees no difference between German and Syrian men. When responding to the concerns of her male colleagues in Germany about whether she gets along with Arabs, the engineer has a simple answer. "Arabs? They're only men."

Kristin Helberg

Translated from the German by John Bergeron

Qantara.de

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