QC Inaugurates the Opening of a Water Well that

QC Inaugurates the Opening of a Water Well that Covers 100 donums in the Gaza Strip


1/14/2016 |


  • The project aims at supporting the infrastructure in the neglected border regions.
  • The project will enhance the food security in Gaza and support the plant nurseries.

As part of its project to restore and develop agricultural lands, QC’s office in Gaza inaugurated the opening of a water well from which 50 farmers of Umm AlNasr Village in the northern region of the Gaza Strip are expected to benefit.

The well irrigates 100 donums of agricultural land, serving 50 Palestinian farmers who suffer from water scarcity in that neglected region. This project should allow them to invest in the land by varying crops.

Reconstruction

The project was funded by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Program for Reconstructing Gaza (the 7th allocation) in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah at a cost of 10,950,000 QR. It aims at restoring the agricultural lands in the Gaza Strip and improving the agricultural infrastructure in the border areas through reforming road networks and supplying the lands with water and electricity to prepare them for future investments.

Food Security

Eng. Mohammed Abu Haloub, QC’s Office Director in Gaza, said that the project aimed at improving Gaza’s food security and developing the plant nurseries to supply the farmers with new plant species. It also aimed at reforming the roads to facilitate the farmers’ arrival to their lands as well as the delivery of fertilizers and agricultural products. In addition, the project would create job opportunities for farmers and workmen.

Abu Haloub explained that the main objective of this project was to reinforce the farmers’ steadfastness in the border regions by meeting their needs and amending the losses they suffered due to the aggression on Gaza. This –as he emphasized- would be achieved by providing them with plants and fruitful trees.

Commendations

Eng. Shafeeq Al-Erawi, the General Director of Soil and Irrigation in the Ministry of Agriculture, deeply thanked QC for implementing this project that he considered a great service to many Palestinian farmers who suffered from water scarcity in the region, as it had depended on one well for irrigation.

Al-Erawi, who attended the delivery gathering on behalf of his ministry, praised the support that Qatar offered to the Palestinian people. He expressed his hopes to have more development projects implemented in Gaza specially for the farmers who were exposed to serious losses in the last aggression on Gaza (Summer 2014).

Abu Tareq Abu Fariya, the mayor of the Municipality of Umm Al-Nasr, expressed his happiness with the project that would develop the agricultural activity in his village. He said that this activity in Umm Al-Nasr village was only recent, and its success depended on providing the farmers with sufficient amounts of water. Hence, the well implemented by QC was a key factor to the success of the agriculture project in the village.

He thanked QC on behalf of the people of Umm Al-Nasr for supporting development projects like drilling wells and enhancing the steadfastness of the farmers in this –neglected- area as he called it.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture’s statistics, the losses in the agricultural sector (plants and animals) during the 51 days of war on Gaza reached 550,000,000 $. The estimation of the direct losses was 350,000,000 $ and the indirect was 200,000,000 $.

The damages affected over half of the landed properties in the Gaza Strip (about 140,000 donums). Some crops dried out as the farmers were unable to reach them. Water wells, surface tanks, ponds, and transportation lines were targeted by the aggression. In addition, agricultural lands of about 34,000 donums near the Eastern borders were leveled.

Water Crisis

A while ago, QC worked on securing potable water for over 3,000 poor Gazan families. Seeking to face the water crisis in the Gaza Strip, QC is implementing a project to filter rainwater and inject it in the underground tanks of 30 public schools. The project should help face the water scarcity suffered by the inhabitants.

In its report regarding the water status in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations warned about how dangerous the situation was. The report said that things would be catastrophic if nothing was done to fix them. It also pointed that the Strip needed desalination plants much more than it did roads. 

 

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