North Korea has mobilized fire trucks to bring drinking water to flood zones in North Pyongan province. The goal is to provide displaced people with water for drinking and daily use, but people say the water provided is in short supply and of low quality.
Speaking anonymously, a source in the province said recently that the central government’s response committee for recovery efforts had taken the emergency measure of mobilizing fire trucks across the country starting from mid-August to deliver water to people in flood-stricken Sinuiju.
Fire trucks deliver water twice a day, in the morning and afternoon, bringing each household 40 liters of water. Sinuiju residents bring 10-to-20-liter water jugs and wait for over an hour twice a day to receive water from the trucks.
“Running water often gets cut in Sinuiju every time there are heavy monsoon rains,” the source said. “Running water remains cut in the city, which was hit badly by floods after the latest heavy rains.”
Living in tent cities, displaced people have complained that the lack of water prevents them from washing or even drinking. With Pyongyang receiving reports that displaced people consider the lack of water their worst difficulty, the North Korean authorities began supplying drinking water using fire trucks from around the country.
News blackout
People are puzzled as to why the North Korean media — which has yet to skip any piece of propaganda regarding the delivery of supplies to the flood zone — has not reported on the use of fire trucks to deliver water to displaced people.
Rodong Sinmun and other North Korean media outlets have reported in detail North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s involvement in helping displaced people, highlighting his image as a “leader who loves the people.” They have also continuously reported news of people nationwide gathering relief supplies to promote internal cohesion.
Sinuiju residents expected extensive media coverage of the fire truck water deliveries. However, after 10 days of silence, they speculate that the government is deliberately withholding this information. “It seems the state doesn’t want the world to know that our running water has been cut off,” the source reported.
People believe this media blackout is intentional. They suspect the government wants to conceal the extent of the crisis: that rain has severely damaged water facilities, authorities have been unable to quickly repair them, and they’ve had to resort to using fire trucks as a stopgap measure. This situation, they feel, portrays the state in a negative light, prompting the lack of official reporting.
As for the fire trucks’ water deliveries, the source said Sinuiju residents generally say that “having water for immediate use is fortunate, but supplies are insufficient, and the water quality is poor.”
He added: “Earth is mixed with the water supplied by the fire trucks, so you can’t just drink it. People say despite this, it’s fortunate they’re given water. They just wish the authorities would provide a bit more of it.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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