Yemenis Overjoyed As Taiz-Houban Road Opens After 9 Years
(AWP) - Yemenis say they are pleased after a main road linking Taiz to the area of al-Houban, in the eastern part of the city, was opened on Thursday after nine years of closure due to a blockade imposed by the Houthi group.
Abdel-Karim Sheiban, the chairman of a committee negotiating the road opening, announced that the al-Kamb-Jawlat al-Qasr highway was open for citizens, urging the Houthi group to fulfil its commitments and officially announce the opening of the road.
Abdel-Qawi al-Mikhlafi, Deputy Governor of Taiz, said that the years-long war in Yemen was the main reason for the closure of this road, which has now been opened after strenuous efforts.
“We are opening the outlet of the Jawlat al-Qasr-al-Kamb road, which has been closed for 10 years, and is full of dust and tree leaves. The war has taken its toll on this road. During the past three days, we have managed to carry out all the procedures. Today, we are receiving people at this outlet,” indicated Mikhlafi.
Ammar Ghilan, a Yemeni citizen, said that the opened road would make it easier for people to move to and from Taiz, after being obliged to use unpaved roads for years.
“It’s completely different now. We used to reach our villages through bumpy roads, but now this road should make things easier. We have waited for so long for this road to open, and hopefully it will not be closed again,” he added.
Another Yemeni man, Aly Saeed, was relieved, saying, “this is a good sign. We went through trouble using the mountainous roads, which damaged our vehicles.”
Marwan al-Amry, a Yemeni man, expressed optimism over this step, which he considered as the “beginning of a breakthrough for the Yemeni people,” adding that it used to take many hours to travel from Taiz anywhere.
“The suffering we went through was caused by the long distance, as well as the long travel time of 10 to 15 hours. If one wants to travel in the direction of Sana’a, they do not want to return to Taiz due to the road closure, and vice versa,” he said.
“This is a major breakthrough. In ten minutes, citizens can go to Ibb, Sana’a or Taiz, at any time, with ease. The difference is clear. Hopefully, this will be a good sign for citizens,” he added.