CMWU's participation in opening the rainwater collection and filtration basin in Khan Younis at a cost of $4.5 million, to serve about 200,000 people.
Under the Patronage and in the Presence of Water Authority Minister Eng. Mazen Ghanem
CMWU Participates in the Opening Ceremony of the Rainwater Collection and Filtration Basin Project in Khan Younis
Gaza / CMWU
CMWU's Director-General Eng. Monther Shoblaq participated in the opening ceremony of the rainwater collection and filtration basin project in Khan Younis governorate, under the patronage and in the presence of Water Authority Minister Eng. Mazen Ghanem, with the ceremony attended by Dr. Mohammed Ziara, Minister of Public Works and Housing, Dr. Ahmed Al-Shaibi, Governor of Khan Younis, Eng. Alaa Al-Batta, Mayor of Khan Younis, Dr. Osama Al-Issawi, Head of the Arab International Organization for the Reconstruction of Palestine's office, Eng. Rifat Diab, advisor to the Islamic Development Bank, and a group of notables, mukhtars, and members of municipal councils and neighborhood committees.
In his speech, Water Authority Minister Eng. Mazen Ghanem said that this project comes as part of the Water Authority's plan to confront the impending water catastrophe by the end of 2020 in the Gaza Strip, and address the condition of the groundwater aquifer, noting the existence of a series of integrated projects for draining, treating, and providing water suitable for drinking and agriculture, confronting the deterioration of the groundwater aquifer's condition, and reducing seawater pollution.
Eng. Ghanem praised everyone who contributed to completing and funding this project and shaping it in this way, turning the health hazard residents used to suffer from into a source of pride, affirming that it serves our people and helps them remain on their land.
In CMWU's speech, the Utility's Director-General Eng. Monther Shoblaq considered this project one of the vital projects that came in partnership with more than one Arab country, at a total cost estimated at $4.5 million, funded by the Saudi Fund for Development, the Islamic Development Bank, the Arab International Organization for the Reconstruction of Palestine, and UNDP, which funded the construction of an additional emergency filtration basin west of Al-Amal rainwater station, in coordination with the Palestinian Water Authority, CMWU, and Khan Younis Municipality, noting that the project's area is estimated at about 120 dunums and took three years to complete, benefiting about 200,000 residents of the governorate.
Eng. Shoblaq considered this project one of the most important humanitarian and environmental projects completed in the last two decades in the Gaza Strip, and also considered it a qualitative shift in the health and environmental situation, affirming that it will strengthen the strategic plan of the Water Authority and CMWU to make use of the annual rainwater that is filtered.
In turn, Eng. Alaa Al-Batta, Mayor of Khan Younis, said that opening the basin in its current aesthetic form is considered a turning point and a glimmer of hope after it used to be a sewage station forming a health hazard in the city, particularly for the residents of the neighboring neighborhood, adding that after years of integrated work from all parties, an aesthetic picture was drawn through everyone's cooperation and an end was put to residents' tragedy.
