Dudin and Ghanem discuss the water problem in Hebron Governorate

HEBRON-Ma'an- Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin and Water Authority Chairman Mazen Ghoneim discussed the water crisis in Hebron Governorate during a meeting that included the heads of local authorities in the governorate, at the governorate building on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by the Deputy Director of Hebron Police, Brigadier General Mansour Daraghmeh, the Deputy Director of Customs Police, Colonel Fadi Makharza, and the Director General of Local Government, Eng. Rashid Awad. Dudin stressed that the water crisis is a seasonal crisis that the governorate suffers from, and its severity has recently increased following the decision of the Israeli company "Mekorot" to reduce the quantities of water allocated to the governorates of Hebron and Bethlehem from the main Deir Shaar water source that supplies these two governorates to approximately 35%. He stressed that this reduction falls within the context of the collective punishment practiced by the occupation against the Palestinian people. The governor a dded that the amount of water loss is one of the causes of the current crisis and will negatively affect the period of water outage for citizens in the summer. He stressed that public money, especially water and electricity, should not be touched, and that the governorate and security services will intensify to combat these violations. He stressed that there will be no leniency in this issue and that work will be done in cooperation with the executive authorities to pursue and monitor the aggressors and impose the necessary penalties on them and those who cover up for them, because it is unreasonable for us to suffer from a shortage in water quantities and for someone to come and exacerbate this crisis to monopolize the water and deprive the neighboring country of it. For his part, Eng. Ghoneim indicated that the water problem is fabricated and intentional on the part of the Israeli side, indicating that this meeting was held to find solutions to the water crisis and deal with the loss, put an end to thefts and encroachments and achieve fair distribution for all communities. Minister Ghoneim added that the Hebron Governorate is facing a serious problem related to encroachments on water lines, which have caused a large loss in the main line that reached 4,000 cubic meters in the Deir Shaar line, as well as a loss that reached 12,000 cubic meters in the Tarqumiya water line. If these encroachments are not controlled, the loss rates will increase. During the meeting, the heads of local authorities and the water problems in their communities were also heard. At the end of the meeting, it was agreed to form a follow-up committee from the Water Authority, the local government, the Hebron Governorate, and the security services to follow up on the violations and pursue the aggressors, in addition to discussing the technical issues that can be worked on to ensure the delivery of water to the communities that suffer from long periods of interruption. Source: Maan News Agency