Handing over the seawater desalination plant project site for Gaza, valued at $15 million, funded by the Kuwait Fund through the Islamic Development Bank, to serve 200,000 residents.
Funded by the Kuwait Fund for Development through the Palestinian Water Authority and Implemented by CMWU
Handover of the Seawater Desalination Plant Project Site for Gaza City
Gaza - CMWU:
The handover ceremony of the seawater desalination plant project site for Gaza city took place, with the project to be implemented through the Palestinian Water Authority and CMWU, funded by the Kuwait Fund for Development through the Islamic Development Bank at a value of $15 million.
Dr. Majed Awni Abu Ramadan, Chairman of CMWU's Board of Directors, handed over the project site west of Gaza city to the international Turkish contractor Aquamatic and its local partner Masoud and Ali Company, in the presence of the Utility's board members, Eng. Monther Shoblaq, CMWU's Director-General, Eng. Maher Al-Najjar, the Utility's Deputy Director-General, and representatives of the Palestinian Water Authority, Gaza Municipality, and the northern municipalities.
Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan said that the project would be built on an area of 5 dunums to serve the western areas of the city, with the number of beneficiaries reaching about two hundred thousand residents, with a production capacity reaching 10 thousand cubic meters daily in the first phase, soon to increase to 15 thousand cubic meters daily, and the project will include constructing a blending reservoir with a capacity of 5 thousand cubic meters, noting that the reservoir's construction is about to be completed. He added that the wells adjacent to the plant, their pumps, and the conveyance lines to the blending reservoir from those wells would be rehabilitated and maintained, and 5 wells would be constructed to supply the plant with pure seawater, along with building the service facilities, preparing the site and supplying it with two electrical generators, and constructing a line for the saline water returning from the desalination plant to the sea with the pumps and connections.
Abu Ramadan said that the site was carefully chosen because the area is considered the cleanest area environmentally along the seashore, even though it is outside Gaza Municipality's jurisdiction, and that "we at CMWU work in the five governorates and in the twenty-five municipalities without any discrimination, and this is CMWU's policy and this is the purpose of the Utility's establishment, which is integration among brothers and sisters."
Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan expressed his appreciation for the efforts aimed at improving water quality and services in the Gaza Strip, praising the supporters and participants in implementing these strategic projects developed and overseen by the Palestinian Water Authority, which will contribute to solving the water crisis in the Strip, and pointed in this context to the seawater desalination plant project south of Deir al-Balah implemented through UNICEF, which will serve the residents of the western areas of Rafah and Khan Younis cities. He said that this project is part of a system that began in Gaza city in 2005, having signed an agreement to bring 5 million cubic meters annually of Mekorot water, but due to successive events and wars this project was greatly delayed until its beginnings started a short time ago, and that CMWU has implemented water, sanitation, and rainwater projects over the past ten years worth about half a billion dollars, from Beit Lahia in the north to Rafah in the south.
Abu Ramadan added, "We work with the twenty-five municipalities hand in hand and have not stopped working at any time, especially during periods of wars, crises, and weather depressions, and the Sheikh Radwan pond project is the best witness, in addition to the other projects, and we hope that all parties responsible for water will join hands to deliver the service; this commodity is a strategic commodity, not only from an economic perspective but also from a health, environmental, and life perspective; a person cannot enjoy life without it, so we must set aside all differences and all work hard to provide clean water."
Dr. Majed Awni Abu Ramadan thanked the Kuwait Fund for Development for its support of this project and its generous donation of $15 million to establish it, and the Islamic Development Bank and Gaza Municipality for their close cooperation in completing and finishing all stages of the project, affirming the continuation of work to implement various projects and provide the energy resources necessary, which are considered an important factor in operating and implementing them. He stressed the importance of moving forward quickly and said that today is the time to work on the main plant, and our appointment is with the date 18/07/2018 to receive the project, and we will not accept any delay.
Abu Ramadan praised the role of the Palestinian Water Authority, the regulator of the water sector, without whose efforts in all projects and activities, whether at the strategic level in terms of coordination and setting strategic plans, convincing donors, setting activities, or allocating land, we would not be here handing over the site of the Gaza city desalination plant project, as a prelude to completing work on the Palestinian strategic plan to solve the water problem in the Gaza Strip, which His Excellency Water Minister Eng. Mazen Ghanem affirmed is one of the most important strategic solutions to the water problem in the Gaza Strip, namely building the central desalination plant, which he promised to continue communicating with donor institutions to secure the necessary funding to implement, most recently during His Excellency Minister Ghanem's visit to the Gaza Strip during the celebration of the opening of the activities of the desalination plant construction project south of Deir al-Balah.
Dr. Majed Awni Abu Ramadan extended his sincere thanks and gratitude to His Excellency the President of the State of Palestine Mr. Mahmoud Abbas "Abu Mazen," who has not for a moment delayed in supporting and meeting all of CMWU's needs since its establishment until now, and that we are still waiting for the promise he made to us to be fulfilled, which he made one of the most important goals at the Mediterranean Basin Conference, namely the other half billion dollars needed to build the central desalination plant in the Gaza Strip. He also praised the role of the Palestinian government with its various ministries, such as Planning, Housing, and Public Works, and foremost among them the Ministry of Local Government, our main partner in these projects, in addition to all the municipalities without exception, which cooperate with the Water Authority and CMWU in supporting and facilitating the implementation of these projects to serve the citizen, and to enable the water sector to advance and develop and complete efforts with support from donor bodies, whose fundamental and pivotal role in this regard he affirmed.
