People bathing outdoors.

DOHA • Residents of a housing complex in Messaieed which holds 4,500 people have been complaining of erratic water supplies. The managers of the building, however, are blaming the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) for the situation.

Another complaint raised by residents is an apparent lack of garbage collection. However, the water shortage is the critical issue the residents say.

Several GCC nationals who stay in the complex which houses low-income as well as better-paid skilled workers, state the water supply has been on and off for some time now. They told Al Sharq: "Sometimes we have to go days on end without water. The situation has become terrible over the last three months. Many tenants who work in complexes around the area often come home unable to bathe."

Affected workers say that they have to bring in water from outside to carry out simple tasks like washing up and doing laundry. "We have asked the authorities to take some action but to no avail. And we know many people complain that we are washing clothes and bathing outdoors, but it cannot be helped because of the water situation."

The tenants said that even though they were paying rents in time, basic services were lacking. Some also said that where earlier rents for a single room was QR1,000, the figure had shot up to QR3,000 per month. "We are paying rent for bad service and now, there is even more suffering," they said.

When contacted, the building managers said it was not their fault and should not be blamed for the problems. "This is not due to our alleged mismanagement but because of Kahramaa. We have officially complained to them and are awaiting a response," they said.