Yemen's horseback takeaway: firm finds equestrian fuel shortages workaround


Ali Mahmood
  • English
  • Arabic

A takeaway service in Yemen is delivering food on horseback amid severe fuel shortages that are pushing parts of the war-torn country to a pre-industrial state.

The streets of Sanaa echo with the clippety-clop of horses' hoofs as the Tawseel delivery company transports food throughout the city without using petrol-guzzling motorbikes.

The company's riders, dressed in red company uniforms and wearing catering bags, began roaming the city on horseback last week.

In addition to the fuel crisis, we face another challenge which is the internet outage, because most of the requests we receive are through apps
Tawseel owner AbdulHamid Thaiyban

The sight provoked a strong public reaction, with pictures of the horsemen going viral and some people referring to the riders as knights.

Some were amazed at such a resourceful idea in a time of war, while others expressed sadness that businesses have been pushed to such desperate measures, while motorcycles stand idle.

“So Tawseel, a food delivery service, started delivering food using horses due to the fuel crisis in Sanaa, well! I have mixed feelings, this looks creative (resilience) but the truth is people are pushed to the limit! Aggressively pushed,” Hana Al Shawafi, a Yemeni development company employee, wrote on Twitter.

Yemen's fuel crisis

AbdulHamid Thaiyban, the owner of the service, told The National that his company started using horses because of the severe fuel crisis that has hit Sanaa in recent months.

“The majority of the motorcyclists working with us decided to stop working due to the chronic fuel crisis the city has been living with, while others stopped as their bikes broke down because of the adulterated fuel they usually buy on the black market,” Mr Thaiyban said.

“It is really painful. We found ourselves unable to carry on during such hardship, so we resorted to using horses to convey a message to the world that we are suffering as a new start-up.”

Fuel shortages have been a fact of life in Sanaa for at least four years, but the situation has reached crisis point. Bakers who usually relied on gas or diesel have switched to using wood.

“Last week we hired a dozen horses as a first experiment,” Mr Thaiyban said. Things went well and his clients were happy with the service.

“We will consider hiring more horses in case the fuel crisis continues,” he said.

Tawseel Company for Food Delivery was established in Sanaa in March 2020 as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, when many vulnerable people were unable to leave their homes. The company provides its service through a team composed of 30 riders, called “captains”, who in normal circumstances deliver food by motorcycle.

“We work with restaurants and cafes to deliver food to clients in their homes and in their workplaces and get commissions for our work,” Mr Thaiyban said.

“Our main transportation tool was motorcycles but as the fuel crisis tightened in Sanaa, we resorted to using horse.”

Twenty litres of petrol costs 35,000 Yemeni riyals, about $60 at the street rate in Sanaa, where a dollar was worth 600 riyals at the weekend.

“In addition to the fuel crisis, we face another challenge which is the internet outage, because most of the requests we receive are through apps,” Mr Thaiyban said.

The majority of the company's clients praise the idea of using horses to continue the delivery service.

“It proves that the company is keen to provide the service to its clients in such critical circumstances at any cost,” Ahmed Najeeb, a client from Sanaa, told The National.

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Barcelona 5 (Lenglet 2', Vidal 29', Messi 34', 75', Suarez 77')

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

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COMPANY PROFILE

Company name: Blah

Started: 2018

Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri

Based: Dubai

Industry: Technology and talent management

Initial investment: Dh20,000

Investors: Self-funded

Total customers: 40

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The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands

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Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.

The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.

The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.

A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.

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Electric scooters: some rules to remember
  • Riders must be 14-years-old or over
  • Wear a protective helmet
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  • Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
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1. Dubai silk road

2.  A geo-economic map for Dubai

3. First virtual commercial city

4. A central education file for every citizen

5. A doctor to every citizen

6. Free economic and creative zones in universities

7. Self-sufficiency in Dubai homes

8. Co-operative companies in various sectors

­9: Annual growth in philanthropy

Scorebox

Dubai Sports City Eagles 7 Bahrain 88

Eagles

Try: Penalty

Bahrain

Tries: Gibson 2, Morete 2, Bishop 2, Bell 2, Behan, Fameitau, Sanson, Roberts, Bennett, Radley

Cons: Radley 4, Whittingham 5

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A feature film

At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.

A documentary

A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.

Books, letters and archives

Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
 

LAST-16 FIXTURES

Sunday, January 20
3pm: Jordan v Vietnam at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
6pm: Thailand v China at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: Iran v Oman at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Monday, January 21
3pm: Japan v Saudi Arabia at Sharjah Stadium
6pm: Australia v Uzbekistan at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: UAE v Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Tuesday, January 22
5pm: South Korea v Bahrain at Rashid Stadium, Dubai
8pm: Qatar v Iraq at Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

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"The T20 World Cup in 2020 is something I'm really looking forward to. I think right now that will probably be the last tournament for me," he said in Brisbane ahead of a one-off T20 against Australia on Saturday. 

Where can I submit a sample?

Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.

Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:

  • Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
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  • Al Towayya in Al Ain
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  • Bareen International Hospital
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Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

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MATCH INFO

Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)

Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm

THE BIO

Age: 30

Favourite book: The Power of Habit

Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"

Favourite exercise: The snatch

Favourite colour: Blue

Updated: February 07, 2022, 12:54 PM`