Clean up West Bank

The European Union has handed over more than €3m of waste collection equipment to the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government.

The equipment includes 42 solid waste collection trucks and a road sweeper, which will help local authorities there deal with the estimated 500,000 tons of solid waste generated every year in the West Bank.

The equipment was handed over at a ceremony in the West Bank earlier this week. It was jointly hosted by the Palestinian Minister for Local Government, Khaled Al Qwasmeh, and the European Commission Head of Operations, Roy Dickinson.

This is the second delivery of EU-funded waste collection equipment to the Palestinian authorities this year.

“In the building-up of the Palestinian State, the quality of direct service delivery by the Municipalities to citizens is central to their perception of whether the Palestinian Authority can deliver improvements to their quality of life, and fulfil the basic duties of a state,” said Mr Dickinson.

“Through our assistance mechanism, PEGASE, the European Union supports all efforts of the Palestinian Authority to deliver services to the people, and is proud to have contributed to this long-term programme for improving the environment,” he added.

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Last Updated: 28-07-2009 9:48:59 By Katherine Hitchcock