Fahad Al-Attiya: A country with no water

Translator: Timothy Covell Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Nelson Simfukwe Reviewer: Joachim Mangilima

Salaam alaikum.

Salaam alaikum

Welcome to Doha.

Karibuni Doha.

I am in charge of making this country's food secure.

Mimi ndio muhusika wa usalama wa chakula nchi hii.

That is my job for the next two years,

Hii ni kazi yangu kwa miaka miwili ijayo,

to design an entire master plan,

kutengeneza mpango mkuu,

and then for the next 10 years to implement it --

na kwa miaka kumi ijayo kuupendekeza

of course, with so many other people.

na watu wengine wengi,

But first, I need to talk to you about a story, which is my story,

Lakini kwanza,nahitaji kukuhadithia,hii ni hadithi yangu,

about the story of this country that you're all here in today.

kuhusu nchi hii mliyopo leo

And of course, most of you have had three meals today,

Kwa uhakika,wengi wenu mmekula milo mitatu leo,

and probably will continue to have after this event.

nahisi mtaendelea kula tena baada ya hii shughuli.

So going in, what was Qatar in the 1940s?

Tuangalie sasa ni vipi Quatar ilikuwa katika mwaka 1940?

We were about 11,000 people living here.

Tulikuwa watu kama 11,000 tunaoishi hapa.

There was no water. There was no energy, no oil, no cars, none of that.

Hakukuwa na maji.Hakukuwa an nishati,mafuta,magari,vyote hivo havikuwepo.

Most of the people who lived here

Watu wengi walioishi hapa

either lived in coastal villages, fishing,

waliishi vijiji vya pwani,kuvua,

or were nomads who roamed around with the environment trying to find water.

au walikuwa watu wa kuhamahama ambao walitembea kutafuta maji.

None of the glamour that you see today existed.

Uzuri wote huu unauona haukuwepo.

No cities like you see today in Doha or Dubai or Abu Dhabi or Kuwait or Riyadh.

Hakukuwa na jiji kama uonavyo leo Doha au Dubai au Abu Dhabi au Kuwait au Riyadh.

It wasn't that they couldn't develop cities.

Haikuwa kwamba walishidwa kuendeleza miji.

Resources weren't there to develop them.

Malighafi hazikuwepo kuweza kuendeleza.

And you can see that life expectancy was also short.

Na unaweza kuona muda wa watu kuishi ulikuwa mfupi.

Most people died around the age of 50.

Watu wengi walifariki katika miaka 50

So let's move to chapter two: the oil era.

Twende sasa ukurasa wa pili:wakati wa mafuta.

1939, that's when they discovered oil.

1939,hapo ndipo mafuta yaligundulika.

But unfortunately, it wasn't really fully exploited commercially

Kwa bahati mbaya,hayakutumika vya kutosha kibiashara

until after the Second World War.

mpaka vita ya pili ya dunia.

What did it do?

Ilifanya nini?

It changed the face of this country, as you can see today and witness.

Ilibadilisha muonekano wa nchi,kama unavyoona na kushuhudia.

It also made all those people who roamed around the desert --

Na ilifanya wale watu wote waliokuwa wakizunguka jangwa..

looking for water, looking for food,

kutafuta maji,kutafuta chakula,

trying to take care of their livestock -- urbanize.

wakijaribu kuwatunza wanyama wao..wakaepata maendeleo

You might find this strange,

Unaweza kuona ni ajabu,

but in my family we have different accents.

lakini katika familia yangu tuna lafudhi tofauti.

My mother has an accent that is so different to my father,

Mama yangu ana asili ambayo ni tofauti na baba yangu,

and we're all a population of about 300,000 people in the same country.

wote tupo idadi inayofikia watu 300,000 tunaoishi katika nchi moja.

There are about five or six accents in this country as I speak.

Kuna lafudhi kama tano au sita katika nchi hii ninapoongea mpaka sasa.

Someone says, "How so? How could this happen?"

Kuna mtu husema"Kivipi?Inawezekanaje kutokea?

Because we lived scattered.

Kwa kuwa tuliishi tukiwa tumetawanyika.

We couldn't live in a concentrated way simply because there was no resources.

Hatukuishi katika sehemu ya pamoja sana kwa sababu hatukuwa na malighafi.

And when the resources came, be it oil,

Na malighafi zilipokuja,mafuta,

we started building these fancy technologies

tukaanza kutengeneza teknolojia ya hali ya juu

and bringing people together because we needed the concentration.

na kuwaleta watu pamoja kwa sababu tulihitaji kukusanyika.

People started to get to know each other.

Watu walianza kufahamiana.

And we realized that there are some differences in accents.

Na tukagundua kulikuwa na tofauti ya asili.

So that is the chapter two: the oil era.

Hiyo ilikuwa ukurasa wa pili:wakati wa mafuta.

Let's look at today.

Tuangalie leo.

This is probably the skyline that most of you know about Doha.

Inawezekana hiki ndicho wengi mnachojua kuhusu Doha.

So what's the population today?

Idadi ya watu ikoje leo?

It's 1.7 million people.

ni watu milioni moja na laki saba.

That is in less than 60 years.

Hiyo ni katika kipindi kisichozidi miaka 60.

The average growth of our economy is about 15 percent for the past five years.

Wastani wa ukuaji w uchumi wetu ni asilimia 15 katika miaka mitano iliyopita.

Lifespan has increased to 78.

Tegemeo la kuishi limeongezeka hadi miaka 78.

Water consumption has increased to 430 liters.

Matumizi ya maji yameongezeka hadi lita 430.

And this is amongst the highest worldwide.

Na hii ndo takwimu kubwa duniani.

From having no water whatsoever

Kutoka kutokuwa na maji

to consuming water to the highest degree, higher than any other nation.

mpaka kutumia maji katika kiwango kikubwa duniani,kikubwa kuliko taifa lolote.

I don't know if this was a reaction to lack of water.

Sijui kama hii ni matokeo ya ukosefu wa maji.

But what is interesting about the story that I've just said?

Lakini ni kipi kinachonifurahisha kwenye hadithi niliyosimulia?

The interesting part is that we continue to grow

Kinachofurahisha ni kwamba tunaendelea kukua

15 percent every year for the past five years without water.

asilimia 15 kila mwaka kwa miaka mitano bila maji.

Now that is historic. It's never happened before in history.

Sasa hiyo ni historia.Haijawahi tokea kabla ya historia.

Cities were totally wiped out because of the lack of water.

Miji yote iliharibika kwa sababu ya ukoseu wa maji.

This is history being made in this region.

Hii ni historia iliyotengenezwa katika eneo hili.

Not only cities that we're building,

Sio miji tu ndo tunajenga,

but cities with dreams and people who are wishing to be scientists, doctors.

lakini miji yenye maono na watu ambao wanatamani kuwa wanasayansi,madaktari.

Build a nice home, bring the architect, design my house.

Kujenga nyumba nzuri,kuwaleta wasanifu majengo,kutengeneza nyumba yangu.

These people are adamant that this is a livable space when it wasn't.

Hawa watu wanaamini kwamba sehemu hii unaweza kuishi wakati ilipokuwa haiwezekani.

But of course, with the use of technology.

Lakini kwa sababu ya teknolojia.

So Brazil has 1,782 millimeters per year of precipitation of rain.

Brazil ina kiasi cha mvua kwa milimita 1782 kwa mwaka.

Qatar has 74, and we have that growth rate.

Quatar ina 74,na tuna ukuaji kiasi hicho.

The question is how.

Swali ni kivipi?

How could we survive that?

Tunawezaje kuendela hivi?

We have no water whatsoever.

Hatuna maji kabisa.

Simply because of this gigantic, mammoth machine called desalination.

kwa sababu ya mashine kubwa ya kutoa chumvi kwenye maji.

Energy is the key factor here. It changed everything.

Nishati ni kitu kikubwa hapa.Imebadilisha kila kitu.

It is that thing that we pump out of the ground, we burn tons of,

Ni ambacho kinakitoa toka ardhini,tunaunguza tani na tani,

probably most of you used it coming to Doha.

wengi wenu mmekitumia kuja Doha.

So that is our lake, if you can see it.

Hilo ni ziwa letu,kama unaweza kuona.

That is our river.

Huo ni mto wetu.

That is how you all happen to use and enjoy water.

Hivyo ndivyo inavotokea mpaka kutumia na kufaidi maji.

This is the best technology that this region could ever have: desalination.

Hii ni teknolojia nzuri sana ambayo eneo hili linayo,kuondoa chumvi katika maji

So what are the risks?

Je,hatari ni zipi?

Do you worry much?

Unaogopa sana?

I would say, perhaps if you look at the global facts,

Naweza kusema,ukiangalia ukweli kiujumla,

you will realize, of course I have to worry.

utagundua,unatakiwa kuwa na mashaka.

There is growing demand, growing population.

Kuna hitaji la kukua,ukuaji wa idadi ya watu.

We've turned seven billion only a few months ago.

Tumekuwa bilioni saba miezi michache iliyopita.

And so that number also demands food.

Na hiyo idadi pia inahitaji chakula.

And there's predictions that we'll be nine billion by 2050.

Na kuna makisio kwamba tutakuwa bilioni tisa kwa mwaka 2050.

So a country that has no water

Kwa hiyo nchi ambayo haina maji

has to worry about what happens beyond its borders.

inakuwa na wasiwasi kipi kitachotokea nje ya mipaka yake.

There's also changing diets.

Kuna kubadilisha ulaji.

By elevating to a higher socio-economic level,

Kwa kuongezeka katika hali ya juu ya maisha,

they also change their diet.

pia wanabadilisha ulaji wao.

They start eating more meat and so on and so forth.

Wanaanza kula kula sana nyama na vinginevyo.

On the other hand, there is declining yields

Kwa upande mwingine,uzalishaji unaporomoka

because of climate change and because of other factors.

kwa sababu ya mabadiliko ya tabia ya nchi na sababu nyinginezo.

And so someone has to really realize when the crisis is going to happen.

Na inatakiwa mtu atambue lini hili tatizo litakuja kutokea.

This is the situation in Qatar, for those who don't know.

Hii ni hali hapa Quatar,kwa wale wasiojua.

We only have two days of water reserve.

Tuna siku mbili tu za utunzaji maji.

We import 90 percent of our food,

Tunaagiza asilimia 90 ya chakula chetu,

and we only cultivate less than one percent of our land.

na tunalima chini ya asilimia moja ya ardhi yetu.

The limited number of farmers that we have

Idadi ndogo ya wakulima ambayo tunayo

have been pushed out of their farming practices

wameondolewa katika taratibu zao za ulimaji

as a result of open market policy and bringing the big competitions, etc., etc.

kwa sababu ya soko huria na ushindani, n.k.

So we also face risks.

Kwa hiyo tunakumbana na hatari

These risks directly affect the sustainability of this nation and its continuity.

Hatari hizi zimeathiri uendeleaji wa taifa hili

The question is, is there a solution?

Swali ni kwamba,je kuna suluhisho?

Is there a sustainable solution?

Kuna ufumbuzi wa uhakika?

Indeed there is.

Kiukweli upo.

This slide sums up thousands of pages of technical documents

Hii inaonesha nyaraka zipatazo 1000 za kiufundi

that we've been working on over the past two years.

ambazo tulikuwa tunafanyia kazi katika miaka miwili iliyopita.

Let's start with the water.

Tuanze na maji.

So we know very well -- I showed you earlier -- that we need this energy.

Tunajua fika...niliwaonyesha mapema..kwamba tunahitaji hii nishati.

So if we're going to need energy, what sort of energy?

Kwa hiyo kama tutahitaji nishati,ni aina ipi?

A depletable energy? Fossil fuel?

nishati inayoisha?mafuta ghafi?

Or should we use something else?

Au tutumie kitu kingine?

Do we have the comparative advantage to use another sort of energy?

Tunayo faida ya kulinganisha kutumia aina nyingine ya nishati?

I guess most of you by now realize that we do: 300 days of sun.

Nahisi wote mnafahamu kwamba tuna siku 300 za jua.

And so we will use that renewable energy to produce the water that we need.

Kwa tunaweza tumia hii nishati kutupa maji tunayohitaji.

And we will probably put 1,800 megawatts of solar systems

Kwa hiyo tunaweza kuweka 1800 megawati za umeme jua

to produce 3.5 million cubic meters of water.

kuzalisha milioni 3.5 za ujazo za maji.

And that is a lot of water.

Na hayo ni maji mengi.

That water will go then to the farmers,

Hayo maji yataenda kwa wakulima,

and the farmers will be able to water their plants,

na wakulima wataweza kumwagilia mazao yao,

and they will be able then to supply society with food.

wataweza kuihudumia jamii kwa chakula

But in order to sustain the horizontal line --

Lakini kwa ajili ya kuhimili upande huu

because these are the projects, these are the systems that we will deliver --

kwa sababu hii ni mipango,hii ni mipango tunayotekeleza

we need to also develop the vertical line:

pia tunatakiwa tuendeleze upande mwingine

system sustenance, high-level education, research and development,

kusimamia mifumo,elimu ya hali ya juu,tafiti na maendeleo,

industries, technologies, to produce these technologies for application, and finally markets.

vinwanda,teknolojia,kutengeneza teknolojia kwa matumizi,na mwisho masoko.

But what gels all of it, what enables it, is legislation, policies, regulations.

Lakini kipi kinarahisha na kuwezesha,ni sheria,sera,utaratibu.

Without it we can't do anything.

Bila hivi hatuwezi kufanya chochote.

So that's what we are planning to do.

Kwa hiyo hiki ndicho tunachopanga kufanya.

Within two years we should hopefully be done with this plan

Ndani ya miaka miwili tunaweza kuwa tumekamilisha mipango hii

and taking it to implementation.

na kuongelea kuitekeleza.

Our objective is to be a millennium city, just like many millennium cities around:

Lengo letu kuu ni kuwa jiji la kimilenia,kama majiji mengine ya kimilenia

Istanbul, Rome, London, Paris, Damascus, Cairo.

Instanbul,Rome,London,Paris,Damascus,Cairo.

We are only 60 years old, but we want to live forever

Tuna miaka 60 tu,lakini tunataka kuishi milele

as a city, to live in peace.

kama jiji,kuishi kwa amani.

Thank you very much.

Asante sana.

(Applause)

(makofi)