CMWU participated in laying the foundation stone for a sewage network project east of Khan Younis serving more than 120,000 residents.
CMWU Participates in the Foundation Stone-Laying Ceremony for the Sewage Network Project East of Khan Younis
Gaza - CMWU
CMWU's Board Chairman Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan participated in the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the project to construct sewage networks east of Khan Younis, in a ceremony organized by the Palestinian Water Authority, under the patronage of His Excellency Water Authority Chairman Eng. Mazen Ghanem, with this project to serve more than 120,000 residents of the eastern villages in Khan Younis governorate, who have suffered for many years from the problems resulting from the lack of a sewage system.
The ceremony was attended by CMWU's Executive Director Eng. Monther Shoblaq, Khan Younis Governor Dr. Ahmed Al-Shaibi, Dr. Osama Al-Eisawi, Director of the Palestine office at the Arab International Organization for the Reconstruction of Gaza-Palestine, Eng. Mohammed Nasser Al-Din, consultant to the Islamic Development Bank, and the mayors of eastern Khan Younis and a number of notables and mukhtars.
In his remarks, Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan affirmed that this project would not have seen the light without the combined efforts of all partners over the previous years, to be the beginning of solving the problem of the lack of a safe sewage system in the towns east of Khan Younis, and ending the environmental danger represented by residents' reliance on absorption pits, which have become a great danger to the environment and residents' health.
Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan also pointed out that the problem that stood in the way of completing the sewage project east of Khan Younis was the lack of a wastewater treatment plant, but with the completion of building this plant during the past period, it became possible to implement the project.
He also expressed his great gratitude for the efforts of the Palestinian government, represented by the Water Authority, in order to begin implementing this important project and other water and sanitation projects implemented during previous years.
Minister Eng. Mazen Ghanem pointed out, in his remarks, that the sanitation sector in the Gaza Strip still faces many challenges that stand as an obstacle to its development, the most important of which are the political challenges, as projects face delays, obstruction, and sometimes refusal to bring in many of the essential materials and equipment necessary, amid the continuing Israeli siege on the Strip, in addition to the series of procedures and complications that delay the entry of materials and individuals, not to mention direct Israeli targeting
and systematic targeting of water and sanitation facilities during the repeated wars on Gaza, as well as the funding challenges, as sewage projects require huge investments and large operating expenses.
Eng. Ghanem also affirmed that the sewage network project for eastern Khan Younis faced these challenges, resulting in a delay in constructing the Khan Younis treatment plant for many years, with the construction of a sewage system in Khan Younis governorate linked to the completion of the treatment plant's construction.
