Ramallah: Eng. Mazen Ghoneim - head of the Water Authority met today with Mr. Jonathan Kamen -the Deputy Head of Mission of the United States Agency for Development, and head of the economic section in the US Consulate, to discuss several issues related to the water sector developments and interventions required.

at the beginning of the meeting ,Minister Ghoneim stressed that water is a human right and no one has the right to deprive the Palestinian citizen from it. He also explained the need for the American side intervention to urge the Israeli side to have serious procedures to resolve the dangerous water crisis in Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate, by repairing of the damage of the water line that belongs to Microot- the Israeli company, as a result of a break in the section under the separation wall since several months.

The meeting also discussed issues related to the development and improvement of the water supplies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the ongoing projects that may improve the quantities of water flowing to the Palestinian communities, pointing out the main object of the Water Authority's in the current period., is Central Desalination Plant in Gaza expressing his  hope that the conference of donors intended to be held during the coming period can get the interaction and  support of all countries in all aspects, especially as we are talking about saving citizens lives from a disaster. The head of the Water Authority also briefed his guest on the issue of the Palestinian share from Al Bahrain channel project and the procrastination of the Israeli side in this regard ,and the failure to achieve the progress that was supposed to be made by  allowing the Palestinian side to obtain its water share according to the terms of the agreement. And the need for the American intervention to help the Palestinian get the water quota according with the quantity, quality and distribution mechanism suggested by the Palestinian side to make optimal use of these quantities.

On the other side, Mr. Kamen assured the interest of the US government in the Palestinian water sector and its support for the development of this sector through supporting the development of infrastructure and the implementation of important and strategic projects.