The Syrian war has turned into a business in every sense of the word. Everything is negotiable and everything is up for sale. Numerous mafias have emerged and while they used to profit from developments brought forth by the war, now they contribute to directing the war. These mafias have moved from the phase of benefiting from crises to the phase of fabricating crises to serve their interests. The newest example in this regard is the bombing of a major pipeline for pumping water in the city of Aleppo, which has opened the door for the mafias to reap more of the black gold.Earlier this month, a huge explosion rocked the city of Aleppo.
The largest city in Syria and the terminus of the silk road.
It turned out that a tunnel was dug in the middle of al-Midan street and booby trapped. It was rumored at the time that the purpose of the explosion was to provide cover for gunmen who infiltrated al-Midan neighborhood which falls under the army's control, before announcing that "the attack failed."
The strange thing is that the area that was dug, booby trapped and blown up does not have any strategic significance and nothing falls within its range except the water pipeline known by most Aleppans to pass through that area. The explosion destroyed three out of four major pipes that pump drinking water from Suleiman al-Halabi Station and cut two power cables that feed the water pumps. This means drinking water has been cut off in a city that is always threatened by thirst because of constant Turkish manipulation of the waters of the Euphrates river.
"OK Zeynep, turn the big round green wheel clockwise until it stops.
The Syrian Red Crescent in Aleppo, under the supervision of the Red Cross representative, negotiated with these groups. They reached an agreement consisting of two phases. The first phase is operating the water pumps by relying on power generators to ensure pumping drinking water to Aleppo's neighborhoods alternately through the undamaged pipe. The second phase requires bringing in repair teams to fix the pipes and the power cables. The Red Cross will pay for the repairs and the diesel.
First mistake. Next time one-quarter upfront, one-quarter on completion, one-half after the first year of no-kabooms.
Sure enough, trucks began transferring an average of 45,000 liters of diesel per day under the supervision of the Red Cross. Sources told Al-Akhbar that the amount of diesel brought in is a lot more than the pumping station's need, which is estimated at 14,000 liters of diesel every 24 hours to work at full capacity. But the station is currently working at less than half its capacity. According to Al-Akhbar's sources, "the working pumps are three out of seven and they need four megawatts to start, but once they start, they need even less." Technical sources told Al-Akhbar that "generating four electricity megawatts requires 8,000 liters of diesel every 24 hours." However, Al-Akhbar's information indicates that "only one production unit is working at this time, 12 hours a day."
I think you see where this is going. You guessed it. The repairs are not going to happen anytime soon.