• News Brief No. 1; July 8, 1998

• News Brief No. 2; July 20, 1998

• News Brief No. 3, Aug. 6, 1998

• News Brief No. 4, Aug. 24, 1998

• News Brief No. 5, Sep. 7, 1998

• News Brief No. 6, Sep. 25, 1998

• News Brief No. 7, Oct. 19, 1998

• News Brief No. 8, Nov. 9, 1999

• News Brief No. 9, Feb 5, 1999

• News Brief No. 10, Feb 22, 1999

• News Brief No. 11, March 21, 1999

• News Brief No. 12, April 22, 1999

• News Brief No. 13, May 21, 1999

• News Brief No. 14, Aug. 30, 1999

• News Brief No. 20, Dec. 18, 1999

News Brief No. 5; September 7, 1998

Bethlehem’s Water shortages will soon be solved

In a Bethlehem home, when the washing machine suddenly stops in the middle of the programme, this doesn’t usually mean that the device is broken. Rather it indicates that there is no more water! No water for cooking and drinking, for washing and cleaning and no water even for taking a shower or flushing the toilet. Water is only pumped twice monthly to the houses so that the water tanks on the roofs can be filled. If this reserve is used up, people have to spend large sums of money to buy water from tankers. The Bethlehem region has had to cope with this situation for a long time. Every summer, the amount of water fed into the system for the Palestinian population is reduced to supply the permanently growing Israeli settlements. In addition, the water network is in a dilapidated state, which causes losses of more than 40% on the way to the consumer.

But all this is about to change very soon. The Bethlehem 2000 Project is implementing a number of projects to improve water supply in the Bethlehem district. With the assistance of USAID two new deep water wells will be drilled (cost US$ 10m) to serve the Bethlehem district. The construction of four more wells (US$ 37m) including site facilities and pipelines serving the southern West Bank will be finalised by April 1999. In the town, two new water reservoirs at the Bethlehem University (2500 m³) and close to Daheishe Camp (10 000 m³) will be constructed by April 1999 with the assistance of the World Bank and USAID. To reduce the losses and to improve supply, at least 18 km of new trunk lines will be constructed under all the streets in the Bethlehem region, which are under

rehabilitation by different donor countries. They will replace the old water pipes that partly date back to Ottoman times.

With the finalisation of these projects by the end of this century the Bethlehem region will be able to provide the inhabitants and visitors expected for the year 2000 with the targeted 100 litre water per person/day. Then Bethlehem waiters will finally not have to tell a guest anymore: “Sorry, we don’t have water, but I can serve you a cola.”

NEWS

• In the recent Cabinet reshuffle Dr. Nabeel Kassis, in charge of the Project since January, was re-appointed Minister and Co-ordinator General for the Bethlehem 2000 Project.

• Beit Sahour Main Road has been tendered, construction will start with World Bank assistance by mid October.

• The Road from Solomon's Pools through Artas and Bethlehem financed by Italy will be tendered for construction on 15-10-98.