West Bank. PA says Palestinian water supply critically low
Reageer (0)24-8-2010
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority said Wednesday that Israel rejected a request to build four water wells in the Jenin area, offering to allow one in exchange for permission to monitor consumption in the entire West Bank.
The Joint Technical Committee on Water, whose mandate under the Oslo Accords is to provide technical assessments of water-related projects in the West Bank, rejected the request.
According to PA officials, the four proposed wells "have all been positively evaluated from a technical standpoint."
The PA said in a statement that "the creation of new water wells is an existential issue going to the very core of sovereignty and viability of a Palestinian state."
PA policy adviser for water and environment Shaddad Attili called the refusal "the latest in a long line of actions and policies that are exacerbating a highly inequitable and unsustainable situation when it comes to the sharing of water between Palestinians and Israelis; these actions fly in the face of PNA efforts to build Palestinian infrastructure and institutions and create a solid base for a future state."
The refusal came amid an ongoing water crisis in the West Bank which has seen some towns, cities, and villages without a reliable supply for weeks.
Citing a study prepared in 1995 for the Oslo Interim Accords, the PA said last year's water levels were "insufficient to meet immediate Palestinian needs at the time," following which Israeli officials had committed to the allocation of 70 to 80 additional MCM over the next five years, bringing the total to around 200 MCM by 2000.
"In reality, not only did Israel fail to implement this commitment, it actively sought to restrict existing Palestinian water production in the West Bank," the statement said, adding that by 2009, Palestinian production in the West Bank had fallen to 84 MCM, which was "less than half the allocated share under Oslo, and significantly less than production levels in 1995."
"This is why, in order to survive, Palestinians are now forced to buy their own water from Mekorot, the Israeli water utility company."
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