Another Hebron Wastewater Treatment Plant

I was involved in the Hebron River issue from the beginning. Hebron is a large Palestinian city on the top of Southern Judean mountains, and it sewage pollutes (in fact, is) the Hebron River that feeds the Beer Sheba aquifer. The Germans built a 20 million WWTP for Hebron, that never worked. Israel built the Shoqet WWTP (partly designed by me) that apparently is not fulfilling its aim (the main designer was Arieh Schwarcz). Now the World Bank declared its intention to oversee the creation of a $45 million Hebron Waste Water Treatment Plant.

After lengthy delays to the project, the new treatment facility will “affect the lives of many residents in both Israel and Palestine,” those people who live on the borders of both the Hebron Stream and the Beersheba Stream and are affected by sewage flow from Hebron and Kiryat Arba, according to Friends of the Earth.

Untreated sewage has polluted ground water and led to a growing mosquito infestation in the area. Communities such as Hebron, Yatta, Metar, Omer and Tel Sheva have been badly affected but should gain relief from the new plant.

In addition to the $10m. that will come directly from the World Bank itself, extra financial resources will come from various groups, including $20m. from the French Development Agency, Friends of the Earth said. The European Union and Sweden have also expressed interest in funding the project. “The Hebron Waste Water Treatment Plant is a very important first step in the rehabilitation of the Hebron Stream. However, fair and effective solutions must be agreed on by both Israelis and Palestinians, in full cooperation,” said Gidon Bromberg, Israeli director of Friends of the Earth Middle East, in a statement.

The main problem, when I was involved in the issue, was Palestinian negligence: They did not control industrial discharges in Hebron and they did not maintain the plant. They said they cannot do anything since they were under occupation. I wonder if the solution is to give the Palestinians the present of a brand new plant. It will not be maintained but let to decay as the first one, I daresay.