Minister Ghanem visits CMWU's headquarters to discuss enabling it to achieve self-funded financial coverage for operating the strategic facilities.
Minister Ghanem Visits CMWU's Headquarters
Gaza – CMWU
Minister Eng. Mazen Ghanem, Chairman of the Water Authority, visited CMWU's main headquarters in Al-Zahra city west of Gaza city, and was received by the Utility's Director-General Eng. Monther Shoblaq, the Deputy Directors-General, and the Utility's projects managers, in the presence of Eng. Zuhdi Al-Ghariz, a member of CMWU's Board of Directors.
During the visit, Minister Ghanem and his accompanying delegation met with the Utility's Director-General and department directors, and at the beginning of the meeting, Eng. Shoblaq welcomed Minister Ghanem and his accompanying delegation and briefed them on the latest developments related to the Utility's work and the water and sanitation situation in the Strip, reviewing the Utility's achievements in this field and the challenges facing its work, particularly regarding the challenges and needs of operating water and sanitation facilities in general and the strategic facilities recently developed and brought into service in particular, and the need to secure the financial support needed to operate them until the procedures for the Utility's institutional development, currently underway in cooperation with the Ministry of Local Government and the Gaza Strip's municipalities, are completed.
During the meeting, Eng. Maher Al-Najjar, Deputy Director-General for Planning and Projects, and Eng. Omar Shatat, Deputy Director-General for Technical Affairs, presented the components and budget of the operation and maintenance plan for the strategic water and sanitation facilities developed by CMWU, in order to reach a stage of stability for CMWU's financial situation and achieve self-funded financial coverage for the operation and maintenance costs of those facilities.
At the end of the meeting, Minister Mazen Ghanem, Chairman of the Water Authority, praised the Utility's role and the effort made to improve water and sanitation services in the Gaza Strip and provide the best service to residents, affirming the importance of enabling the Utility to carry out its role as the sole provider of water and sanitation services in the Gaza Strip, affirming the necessity and importance of setting an implementable plan in order to reach a stage where the Utility is able to rely on its own sources to cover the operating expenses of water and sanitation facilities, particularly amid some donor institutions to the Water Authority expressing their willingness to support CMWU's plan by covering some operating expense items for a transitional and specific period, in exchange for CMWU working diligently during that period to improve the services provided to the public in the Gaza Strip and implement the necessary procedures to improve bill collection and reduce losses in water supply systems.
Minister Ghanem promised to support CMWU in order to complete its proposed institutional development procedures with the rest of the Gaza Strip's municipalities joining CMWU, and to exert every effort to overcome the obstacles facing the Utility's work and support it to complete its journey in order to improve the quality of water provided to residents of the Gaza Strip and treat sewage water and reuse it in the agricultural sector.
