Germany funds wastewater treatment plant in Gaza

German Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Gerd Muller placed the cornerstone of a new wastewater treatment plant in central Gaza, Anadolu reported yesterday.

The German minister arrived in Gaza through Israel’s Erez border crossing and remained in Gaza for a couple of hours, time enough to lay the cornerstone of the wastewater treatment plant.

Muller stressed on the importance of supporting the besieged Gaza Strip, reiterating that his country funds several development projects in the coastal enclave. “This project reduces the suffering of the besieged inhabitants in Gaza,” Muller said.

“The residents of the Gaza Strip are in need for sustainable development for the sake of future generations,” he said.

He added: “We support education, the healthcare sector [and] technology,” noting that his country would “continue its financial support for the Palestinian Authority.”

Regarding the now ten-year-old strict Israeli siege on Gaza, the German minister said: “I hope that when I visit the Gaza Strip next time I will find the siege is fully lifted.”

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Housing and Public Work Minister Mofeed Al-Hasayneh said that the German wastewater treatment plant had capacity to clean 60,000 cubic metres of water per day.

He also said that the costs of constructing the plant was around $75 million.

The Palestinian water authority had earlier said that 23 per cent of Gazan households are not connected to the wastewater network due to the last Israeli offensive on the Strip in 2014.

In addition, it said that huge amounts of untreated or partially treated wastewater pours into the sea and this causes unprecedented pollution, damaging the environment.