Disaster in Taiz Flames Force 300 People to the Street [Archives:1999/44/Front Page]

TAIZ: In Jamal Street, behind the Yemeni Commercial Bank, more than 26 reed houses sheltering more than 300 people of African origin (Akhdam) were set to fire on Wednesday, Oct. 27. The fire was foolishly caused by one of the men who lived in a small reed house in the area. This man chase tried to the mosquitoes out of his room with smoke. But it was not long before the gas tank that was in the same room exploded when the flame touched it. The whole house was gutted. The fire quickly spread to other houses as there was gas in every house, to light lamps due to the unavailability of electricity.
Although five days have passed since the incident, yet the government has not been able to find an alternative shelter for all these homeless people. The Akhdam community in Taiz is planning to stage a protest to pressurize the government to build homes for them. They blame the government for ignoring them over the years. They see this wilful neglect as the main reason behind their miserable conditions, and this particular incident as well.
The Akhdams or the ‘black’ of Yemen are the less privileged people in the Yemeni society. They lead their own life which is totally different from that of others. They usually live in the slums with neither water nor electricity.
Last Wednesday afternoon, one of the akhdams wanted to get rid of the mosquitoes inside his cottage. He found salvation in making fire inside. Gradually the smoke began to fill the cottage. He left the cottage to escape the smoke and returned only after the disaster had taken place. The fire gutted the small wooden cottage into ashes. As all the adjoining cottages were made of wood, fire rapidly spread and burnt all of them in minutes. The residents could salvage nothing from the fire except saving heir life. The fire brigade which soon arrived at the scene prevented the fire from reaching the Yemen Commercial Bank and other building adjoining the Akhdams slums. Fortunately, they were able to put it out before it spread further.
The Akhdam’s leader, Ali S’ad Abdulla, said in a short interview with the Yemen Times that the 26 houses were gutted. These were inhabited by more than 250 people most of whom were children. He also said that they had been living there for more than 30 years exposed to cold, rain and hunger. Jameela, one of the akhdams, said that the fire spread rapidly because each cottage used gas and petrol as fuel. Jameela also said that she suffered a lot from the lack of water and electricity services and also from the way the other people treated them. Mohammed Abdulla Qasim, driver, said that he did not think the fire was started by anybody. However, as he said, they had always been threatened by a person claiming the ownership of the land of dire consequences if they failed to vacate it. Mr. Abdul Majeed Al-Kibsi, Vice President of the YCB, urged upon the governor to help the victims.
Almost all the Akhdams in Yemen work as street sweepers or shoemakers. Their very low income can never enable them to build new houses for themselves. It is worth mentioning that they had to spend three nights in the open air.
Imad Al-Saqqaf
Taiz Bureau chief
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