Eng. Shoblaq guest at a community accountability session on the water crisis in Gaza, organized by the Palestinian Institute for Communication and Development in cooperation with the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
In Coordination and Partnership with the Palestinian Institute for Communication and Development..
Eng. Monther Shoblaq, CMWU's Director-General, Guest of the Community Session Discussing the Water Crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza - The Palestinian Institute for Communication and Development, in cooperation with the German "Friedrich Ebert" Foundation and CMWU, held a community accountability session on "the Water Crisis in the Gaza Strip," hosting CMWU's Director-General Eng. Monther Issa Shoblaq, in the presence of a number of specialists, interested parties, journalists, media correspondents, and social media activists.
The session opened with a welcoming speech from the Palestinian Institute for Communication and Development, addressing the objectives of the accountability sessions organized by the Institute in cooperation with the German (Friedrich Ebert) Foundation, as they aim to strengthen the values of accountability, oversight, and transparency, as foundations for governance and managing public affairs, with reference also made to the role of media professionals and social media activists in oversight and spreading awareness messages to residents, particularly amid the current water crisis and its impact on the services provided to residents in the Gaza Strip.
In turn, media professional Ms. Hanan Al-Masri, a Board member of the Palestinian Institute for Communication and Development, expressed the Institute's happiness with its cooperation with CMWU and its Director-General Eng. Monther Shoblaq, who promptly responded and showed great cooperation in participating in this session, explaining that this session comes as part of an integrated program aiming to activate community accountability, affirming the importance of its role amid the absence of the main institutions entrusted with the oversight task.
In turn, CMWU's Director-General Eng. Monther Shoblaq addressed the reality of water services in terms of the challenges facing this vital and important sector for the lives of the Strip's residents, and the achievements at the level of emergency and strategic projects, despite the extremely complex challenges and political and economic circumstances facing service providers in various basic sectors in the Gaza Strip. Eng. Monther Shoblaq also addressed CMWU's role, in cooperation with and support from the Palestinian Water Authority, in supervising the implementation of numerous water and sanitation projects, in addition to its role in managing and supervising the operation and maintenance of water and sanitation facilities in the Gaza Strip, and its efforts in coordinating services between the Strip's municipalities since its establishment until today, despite the difficult circumstances the Gaza Strip has gone through and continues to go through, particularly the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip and the three wars the Gaza Strip has gone through, as well as amid the political division, which the Utility has overcome through its transparent service and professional work, rising above all the obstacles and consequences created by the division. Shoblaq pointed to the great difficulties facing the Utility's work in reaching the goals it aspires to, particularly those goals related to its strategic plan, affirming the increase of these obstacles as a result of the siege imposed by the Israeli occupation on the Gaza Strip, which has intensified the water crisis and delayed the completion of many major projects, such as the sewage treatment project in Khan Younis and Al-Bureij, as well as the seawater desalination plant north of Gaza city.
On the achievements side, Shoblaq explained, during a presentation, the tangible progress made in renewing and maintaining water and sanitation networks and their connections, chlorinating water, and constructing water reservoirs, the latest of which were Al-Qastal reservoir in Deir al-Balah and Al-Zohour reservoir in Rafah, as well as Al-Muntar and Civil Defense reservoirs in Gaza city and numerous reservoirs in various areas of the Gaza Strip, funded by multiple donor institutions such as the German government, the European Union, the American government, and the Islamic Development Bank, as well as constructing and operating groundwater desalination plants, small-sized seawater desalination plants, and sewage pumping and treatment stations across the Gaza Strip, considering that the projects completed with support and supervision from the Palestinian Water Authority and all local and international partners and supporters, whose value amounts to more than half a billion dollars from 2005 until today, have spared the Strip a major water, health, and environmental catastrophe, and created a bright spot amid the bleak picture of the water situation in the Gaza Strip.
Shoblaq also stressed, during his speech, the continuation of the efforts and projects implemented and supervised by CMWU, despite the challenges facing the work, particularly amid the special nature of the security, political, and economic reality of the Gaza Strip, affirming that such meetings strengthen the opportunity for community and media participation, which works towards confronting these challenges and turning them into achievements on the ground.
It is worth noting that the session included a set of questions and discussion amid an atmosphere of positive interaction, with the attendees also affirming the necessity of the international community carrying out its duties and pressuring the occupation authorities to remove all the obstacles and impediments preventing the completion of water and sanitation projects, in addition to paying special attention to water services internally and addressing all the challenges obstructing the development of the water sector, sparing it the repercussions of the internal Palestinian division, and providing appropriate services to the Strip's residents, calling on the relevant agencies and organizations to provide all forms of support and backing to CMWU and all the relevant bodies working in the water and sanitation sector, and enabling it to continue its projects and support its operating expenses, particularly amid local and international expectations of a health and environmental catastrophe occurring – God forbid.
