In the village of Bani Zuhair, west of Hays district, south of Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate, Project Masam demining teams have cleared and secured the village’s healthcare centre, which had been unable to provide essential medical care services since the Houthi takeover of 2014.
Plagued by landmines, strategic Hays links three governorates of upmost importance: Al-Hodeidah, Ibb and Taiz. All three make up for one of the most landmine-contaminated areas in Yemen.
Due to the presence of landmines in and around the vicinity, patients were forced to travel to the district’s other health centres, or further afield to the health centres of neighbouring districts to seek treatment.
The leader of Masam Team 26, whose team was responsible for securing the health center, told Masam’s Media Office: “We removed nine improvised explosive devices [IEDs] which the militia used to booby-trap the health centre, secured the building, and opened many roads and tracks from the eastern, western and southern sides, with only a few parts remaining on the northern side that will be secured in the next few days.”
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the Local Council in Hays District, Ali bin Ali Zuhair, said that the health centre was providing its health services until a few days before the Houthi takeover in Yemen.
People living in the village of Shaab Bani Zuhair relied on the centre mainly to get the necessary healthcare and vaccinations as well as emergency medical services, but when the militias took control of the village, they turned the centre into a military site and prevented healthcare workers to provide any services.
Ali Zuhair pointed out that Masam teams’ intervention in the village saved the health centre from destruction, in addition to saving some vital projects in the area, such as a mined water project among many others, pointing out that Bani Zuhair villagers were forced to travel long distances to go to other health centres to get the health care they really needed.
“By clearing the health centre of landmines, Bani Zuhair villagers have recovered one of their most important service facilities,” the Secretary-General of the Local Council in Hays district said, adding that the field medical institution is currently renovating the building as it prepares to provide important medical services to hundreds of families, after Masam deminers brought the building back to life and cleared it of the Houthi landmines.
