Drinking water crisis in Hebron reaches its peak

Al-Halil-Ma'an- A meeting was held on Tuesday evening in the Hebron Municipality with the city's various institutions, which included the Hebron Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Palestinian Businessmen Forum, and heads and representatives of hospitals, universities, factories, and the private sector, at the invitation of the mayor, Mr. Tayseer Abu Sneineh, and members of the municipal council, to discuss the problem of the water crisis that the city is suffering from and the challenges it faces in light of the Israeli company "Mekorot" reducing the Hebron Governorate's water share by 40%, equivalent to 8,000 cups per day, which has had a negative impact on the period of water outage for citizens, as the water distribution cycle has now reached more than 45 days. Abu Sneineh welcomed the attendees, appreciating their interest in the water issue and their keenness to participate with the municipality in confronting this crisis that has become a concern for everyone, explaining that the aim of this meeting is to provide institutions with an understanding of the water situation and to know the roles assigned to everyone, pointing out the importance of rallying around the municipality to pressure all parties that can solve this problem or alleviate it, indicating that the municipality has reached zero hour and the crisis has reached its peak during this period, stressing the need to unify efforts to solve this crisis and get out of it. Abu Sneineh pointed out that the municipality, through its various teams, was able to reduce water loss by 15% during the last three years, through rehabilitating the water network, introducing pumps, implementing a fair distribution plan, hydraulic lifting, and proper management of the network, noting that the municipality is moving forward in developing the water sector through several strategic projects. The Director of the Water and Sanitation Department in the Municipality, Engineer Musab Obaidu, gave a presentation in which he reviewed the city's water situation, the curren t crisis, the municipality's orientations to develop the water sector, and the challenges and obstacles it faces. The attendees raised many issues revolving around the water crisis, presenting many solutions, ideas and proposals that would alleviate the crisis, affirming their full support for the municipality and expressing their complete readiness to stand by it until a radical solution to the water crisis is reached. At the end of the meeting, Abu Sneineh made a phone call to the head of the Water Authority, Eng. Mazen Ghoneim, to convey the meeting's details, and the two parties agreed on the necessity of setting a date for his urgent visit to the Hebron Municipality and meeting with Hebron's institutions. Source: Maan News Agency