Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Yemen + 1 more

Saudi Oil Derivatives Grant to Yemen’s Al-Mahra Province Enters 3rd Year

Al-Mahra, Yemen / 6 July 2020 – The Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) has delivered the latest installment of the 2018 Saudi oil derivatives grant, with 4,800 tons of diesel arriving at Nishtun port in Yemen’s Al-Mahra province on Sunday. The grant has helped boost electricity generation for Al-Mahra since the fourth quarter of 2018, with 4,800 tons per month in summer and 3,600 tons per month in winter, for a total of 50,400 tons annually.

These supplies have enabled 11 central power stations in Al-Mahra Governorate to function properly and constantly, ensuring electricity reaches 82 rural communities and powering 24 projects providing basic services such as water supply and distribution facilities, hospitals and health centers.

Al-Mahra Governor Mohammed Ali Yasser – who received the fuel vessel alongside SDRPY Al-Mahra Director Eng. Abdullah Basulaiman, Al-Mahra Oil Company Manager Muhsen Ali and others – affirmed the importance of the grant in helping hospitals and other essential service facilities to operate. He announced that SDRPY would soon launch projects to construct a 40-megawatt power station and a road through King Salman Medical and Educational City, to complement its support for services and development in the energy, education, health, water, agriculture, fisheries and transportation sectors.

The grant has made a significant impact on stabilizing electrical currents and improving access to water in all areas of Al-Mahra Governorate, as well as alleviating the financial burden on local authorities in purchasing diesel. Continuous power cuts were a fact of daily life for the people of the province prior to the grant, and work was only possible for a few hours a day for most. Electricity in Al-Mahra is now readily available for both longtime residents and the displaced.

“SDRPY’s efforts are living manifestations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s seriousness in helping Yemen and building a better future for its citizens,” said Eng. Basulaiman. “We are working to provide all that the Yemeni citizen needs in Al-Mahra and across Yemen’s governorates,” he explained, adding that the grant was intended to ensure the “permanence of electricity services, stability of electrical currents, improvement of the economy and living standards, and increased job opportunities.”

SDRPY organizes distribution of the oil derivatives grant in Al-Mahra Governorate through a receipt and delivery committee, in cooperation with the Al-Mahra Oil Company, the General Electricity Corporation, government authorities and civic organizations.