Ramallah - Head of the Water Authority, Eng. Mazen Ghoneim, met today with the Mayor of Al Bireh, Mr. Azzam Ismail, and the Council Member Mr. Muneef Tarish, to discuss the sanitation sector needs in Al-Bireh, foremost among which is the urgent need to expand the treatment plant established in 2000.

Where the currently operational capacity of the station is higher than the design capacity, which will lead to deterioration of the quality of the treated water to be used in agriculture, in addition to increasing population and expansion of municipal boundaries which calls for expansion of sanitation networks in unserved areas and the urgent need for maintenance of wastewater pumping stations.

During the meeting, Eng.Ghoneim expressed his pride in the experience of Al-Bireh municipality in managing the sanitation facility. Adding that the Water Authority is working on the establishment of water facilities to regulate the water and sanitation sector and develop the Jerusalem Water Undertaking as the regional utility to provide water and sanitation services and work to provide assistance to enable it to play its role to the fullest.

He added that there is a need to act urgently to expand treatment plant to meet the requirements and the need to find mechanisms between Jerusalem Water Undertaking as future operator and Al-Bireh municipality as the current operator to take advantage of the available grant from the German Government worth 5 million euros have been allocated to develop the infrastructure for sewage works in the municipality.

Eng.Ghoneim also referred to the importance of raising the level of collection of sewage services, similar to the water services, which benefit the citizens and that it is necessary to apply the regulations related to environmental protection and linking the facilities to the sewerage networks, which the Water Authority, with the support of the German Agency, developed the manual of action in this regard.

For his part, Mr. Ismail appreciated the efforts of the Water Authority to develop the sanitation sector alongside the water sector through studies and strategies aimed at regulating and developing the sewage sector.