Inauguration of Rafah Solid Waste Transfer Station

Under the auspices of H.E. Prime Minster Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh, and in the presence of the minister of local government H.E. Majdi Al-Saleh, Inauguration of Rafah Solid Waste Transfer Station on Wednesday 18 December 2019, And in the presence of each of the governor of Khan Yunis Dr. Ahmed Al-Shaibi, Governor of Gaza, Mr. Ibrahim Abu Al-Naja, Governor of Rafah, Mr. Ahmed Nasr, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the JSC-KRM Eng. Aladdin Al-Batta, Mayor of Rafah Municipality, Dr. Anwar Al-Shaer, Mayor of Abasan Al-Kabirah Municipality, Dr. Mahmoud Abu Draz, Mayor of Al-Maghazi Municipality, Mr. Mohammed Al-Najjar, General Director of the Municipal Development and Lending Fund, Mr. Tawfiq Al-Badiri, and Supervision team, contractor, and stakeholders who will manage Rafah Solid Waste Transfer Station facility.

First in his opening speech, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the JSC-KRM Eng. Aladdin Al-Batta welcomed the attendees and pointed out that this project is one of the strategic projects, at the level of the Rafah Governorate Which was implemented by the Municipal Development and Lending Fund (MDLF), and funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union (EU), At a total cost of 1.4 million (€), for the benefit of both the Joint Services Council (JSC-KRM) and the Rafah Municipality. And he is also mentioned that Rafah Solid Waste Transfer Station facility will contribute and help reduce the problem of transporting solid waste from the far western regions to Al-Fakhari sanitary landfill.

He also mentioned that the transfer station was built on an area of approximately 10 donums and it will receive (60) tons of waste daily, The facility includes a site for the transportation and transfer of the daily generated waste, in addition to a garage and a workshop for maintenance of vehicles and machinery for the municipality of Rafah, And it is worth mentioning that the old workshop for the municipality, which was located in the city center will be moved to the new station, This will have a positive impact on the city's residents, especially in traffic and daily work.

Eng. Aladdin Al-Batta also confirmed that the council would continue its hard work to develop methods and mechanisms for collecting, transporting and disposing of solid waste in the southern and Middle Area of Gaza Strip in accordance with environmental and social standards, and in co-operation with the local authorities that are members of the Joint Services Council. Then Eng. Aladdin Al-Batta praised of MDLF active role in implementing the solid waste management project program and congratulated them on this great achievement. Moreover, he thanked the doners of the project especially the (AFD), for their financing to construct the transfer station.

Then in his speech, the minister of local government Eng. Majdi Al-Saleh blessed the people of the Gaza Strip with the opening of this important vital project which will serve approximately 120,000 citizens, as it was designed and equipped with the latest scientific and technical methods, in line with national strategy for solid waste management in the Palestinian Territory, in order to provide citizens with advanced and highly efficient service in the field of solid waste collection.

He also added that the transfer station will contribute to reducing the time and effort spent in the process of solid waste management, and he was stressing that this achievement would not have taken place without the concerted efforts and works, either from the government, international partners, the local community, and the Joint Services Council, as well as members of implementation and supervision teams, especially members of the (MDLF) team and Contractors.

Then Eng. Majdi Al-Saleh thanked the French Development Agency (AFD), the European Union (EU), The World Bank Group (WBG) and the Kingdom of Sweden their generous contributions and supports to implement this project, which falls under the largest project for solid waste management in the southern governorates of Gaza Strip.

It is worth mentioning that the solid waste management project in Gaza Strip aims to improve solid waste management services in the governorates of Khan Yunis, Rafah and the Middle Area, and about 800,000 citizens from the central and southern Gaza Strip benefit from it, and through the project, a sanitary landfill was built and constructed, costing approximately 9,400,000 (€), on an total area of 235 dunums, Also, new transfer stations were built and constructed, In addition to improving primary collection methods to ensure sanitary disposal of waste.