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First phase of the North Gaza Sewage Treatment Project is completed

Quartet Representative Tony Blair today welcomed the long-awaited completion of Phase One of the World-Bank funded North Gaza Emergency Sewage Treatment facility, which is successfully diverting sewage away from the dangerous Beit Lahiya site. The Office of the Quartet Representative has worked intensively with the World Bank to ensure the entry of all the materials needed for repair, to ensure the project's successful operation.
 
Phase One was officially completed on 26 January 2010, upon the entry of the last truckload of materials needed for its operation.  The completion of the first phase was delayed due to the need to repair the damage sustained to the site during 'Operation Cast Lead' in January 2009.
 
Bids for Phase Two of the project, which will address the long-term needs of wastewater treatment for northern Gaza, were received in November 2009. The contract for Phase Two should be awarded in March 2010 with work expected to resume on the site in April 2010. Tony Blair will continue to lobby the Government of Israel to open the Gaza crossings for both humanitarian, commercial goods and reconstruction.

Tony Blair said: “The completion of the North Gaza Sewage Treatment Project is welcome news, especially for the local residents who were at risk from the previous site. We need to continue to work to improve the Palestinians’ daily lives and ensure that further work can be done to improve the infrastructure in Gaza. That is why we have been lobbying for greater reconstruction assistance to go in, and for business to be able to get more goods out, in advance of an ending of the current closure policy.”