Minister of Local Government Hussein Al-A'raj visits CMWU and inspects the Central Gaza Sewage Treatment Plant and the southern desalination plant.
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Minister of Local Government Dr. Hussein Al-A'raj Visits CMWU and Inspects Some of Its Qualitative Projects
Gaza - CMWU received at its main headquarters His Excellency Minister of Local Government Dr. Hussein Al-A'raj, in a visit aiming to review the current water situation in the Gaza Strip, and to closely learn about the efforts made by CMWU, its most prominent projects and the services it provides to residents, as well as the most prominent obstacles it faces amid the economic and political challenges facing CMWU and the various local bodies and service institutions in the Gaza Strip.
The Minister and his accompanying delegation were received by Dr. Majed Awni Abu Ramadan, Chairman of CMWU's Board of Directors, and Eng. Monther Issa Shoblaq, the Utility's Director-General, with Dr. Abu Ramadan welcoming His Excellency the Minister and his accompanying delegation, and praising the importance of this visit and the great keenness it represents from the Ministry of Local Government on the continuation of joint cooperation, expressing his great appreciation for this great interest and this appreciated visit, which aims to closely learn about the efforts and projects that CMWU supervises the implementation of, which have had a positive and prominent impact on improving the services provided to residents, and the attempt to overcome the current water crisis in the Gaza Strip, through the qualitative projects in the field of water and sanitation that CMWU supervised the implementation of, in cooperation and coordination with all the relevant parties, particularly the Ministry of Local Government and the Palestinian Water Authority, as the most important institutions supporting CMWU.
Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan "Abu Awni" also addressed the great role of the Ministry of Local Government, which is considered the incubator and foundation for establishing CMWU and for the work of all the homeland's municipalities, with its pioneering role having contributed to backing CMWU as one of the most important solutions to reach the best services in the fields of water and sanitation, after signing the memorandum of understanding between the mayors of the Gaza Strip's municipalities, and the actual beginning that followed of the administrative and technical institutional building of CMWU in 2005, as it has now become, thanks to the combined efforts, one of the most important service institutions, and has attracted the interest of numerous international donor institutions, with the scale of CMWU's achievements in infrastructure projects in the fields of water, sanitation, and rainwater reaching about $500 million.
In the context of a special, individual meeting with His Excellency the Minister, Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan extended his deep and sincere thanks to His Excellency President Mahmoud Abbas "Abu Mazen" and to Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamdallah for the special and unique attention they give to the water and sanitation sector, which has contributed to confronting the grave challenges facing the water sector, as this familiar attention represents a great motivation for the Utility to proceed with steady steps towards further development and achievement, and will always remain, as everyone has known it, a model of sincere national technical work towards building our independent state, affirming that this qualitative visit by His Excellency Minister Dr. Hussein Al-A'raj, at this important time, is the greatest evidence of the great keenness to overcome all the current obstacles, with Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan also discussing with His Excellency the Minister ways to advance and upgrade the Utility's work, and consulting on numerous fundamental points aiming to set creative solutions and important practical measures to solve the problems facing the work of the Utility and the municipalities in general in the Gaza Strip.
In turn, Eng. Monther Shoblaq gave a brief presentation of the most important services provided by CMWU in the fields of water and sanitation, and the developments of the projects it supervises the implementation of, in cooperation with the Water Authority and the Strip's various municipalities, and generously funded by numerous donor institutions, as well as the challenges and obstacles facing CMWU while providing its services to the residents of the Gaza Strip, particularly the electricity crisis, and while implementing some projects, particularly regarding coordination problems for bringing in equipment and spare parts, and at the end, Eng. Shoblaq expressed his great appreciation for the visit of Minister Al-A'raj and his accompanying delegation, praising the great and distinguished cooperation between CMWU and the Ministry of Local Government, which would benefit numerous aspects of residents' lives in the Gaza Strip, particularly regarding water and sanitation services.
After the delegation finished visiting the Utility's main headquarters, the delegation headed to visit the Central Gaza Sewage Treatment Plant, located in the far east of Al-Bureij camp, central Gaza Strip, where the details of this vital project and its importance to residents were explained, as one of the largest and most prominent projects implemented by CMWU across the Gaza Strip's governorates in the field of sanitation, with this project having begun in 2016, generously funded by the German Development Bank KfW with a grant of €70 million, with the project's production capacity reaching more than 60,000 cubic meters of sewage water daily, and more than 900,000 residents of Gaza and Central governorates will benefit from the project. The delegation then moved to visit the seawater desalination plant for the southern governorates of the Strip, construction of which began, funded by UNICEF, in 2013, with the first phase's total cost reaching €10 million, producing 6,000 cubic meters of desalinated water daily, with the Minister also given an explanation of the importance of this project as well as its second phase, whose cost is €20 million and which will produce 14,000 cubic meters of desalinated water daily, bringing the total number of beneficiaries from the project to more than 75,000 residents of Khan Younis and Rafah governorates.
In turn, His Excellency Minister Hussein Al-A'raj praised CMWU's prominent role in the field of water and sanitation services in the Gaza Strip, and the achievements made in numerous qualitative projects, thanking Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan for his dedication and wise, distinguished performance through his chairmanship of CMWU's Board of Directors, and his overcoming of numerous obstacles and working with all parties and coordinating efforts amid the harshest circumstances, through CMWU's achievements, which are considered a source of national pride and a successful institutional model at all administrative and technical levels, thanking all the Utility's components, its management, and all its workers for all the excellence they exert while working on water and sanitation projects, expressing his great admiration for what he noticed during the field tour of an advanced level of performance and capabilities rivaling work in many developed countries, despite the obstacles and difficult circumstances the Gaza Strip has been going through for many years. His Excellency the Minister also addressed his keenness, through the understandings and consultations he held in his meeting with Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan, to implement a series of plans, directions, and measures aiming to develop the Utility's work and overcome all the obstacles hindering its work, also affirming the continuation of efforts to strengthen relations and partnerships and provide the support needed for the projects through all partners, supporters, and donors, affirming the Ministry of Local Government's keenness on continuing and intensifying joint cooperation and coordination with CMWU in the coming stage, aiming to improve the quality of services provided to residents in the field of water and sanitation.
