Mustafa: Providing dignified housing for displaced families is a priority alongside healthcare and education despite the financial crisis and current challenges

SadaNews - Today, Wednesday, Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mustafa discussed with a delegation from Tulkarem Governorate the progress of several ongoing infrastructure projects in the governorate, as well as urgent and feasible needs, amid the continued aggression of the occupation on the governorate and the worsening conditions of displaced families.

Mustafa emphasized that providing dignified housing for displaced families is a priority, despite the suffocating financial crisis caused by the occupation's withholding of clearance funds, directing to enhance coordination between the relevant government entities and the Relief Agency to provide basic needs for the displaced, particularly housing, healthcare, and education, until they can return to their homes and repair what was damaged.

The delegation included Tulkarem Governor Abdullah Kmail, Secretary of Fatah Movement Iyad Jarad, the mayors of Tulkarem, Anabta, Atill, and Kafr Qaddum, the heads of popular committees in the Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps, as well as representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and the Businessmen's Association. The meeting was also attended by the ministers of local governance, education and higher education, public works and housing, the head of the Military Liaison, and deputies from the ministries of finance, economy, and labor.

The meeting reviewed the progress of several road and infrastructure projects, including Sfarin Street, Bazarriya/Anabta Street, Nur Shams/Anabta Road, Shufa/Kafr Al-Labid Road, and Atill Street, which is still in the design phase, in addition to completing the rehabilitation of Al-Ahraash Street Bridge, which was recently opened and has become the main entry to Tulkarem City amid the occupation's closure of the main Nur Shams/Tulkarem Street.

The meeting also addressed the municipalities' needs for additional internal roads rehabilitation projects, including the rehabilitation of internal roads in Tulkarem City at a cost of 1.3 million euros, funded by the Municipalities Fund, alongside a package of other projects being implemented in several municipalities funded by Arab and Islamic funds and additional allocations through the Ministry of Local Governance and the Municipalities Fund.

In another context, the meeting discussed the governorate's needs for temporary employment programs, given the rising unemployment rates. Although the launch of an employment program through the Ministry of Labor and the Municipalities Fund provides hundreds of job opportunities through municipalities and village councils, the need remains greater. In this context, local authorities were directed to encourage the unemployed to apply for funding programs for pioneering projects, with 196 project owners benefiting from funding opportunities under the "Initiative 1+2" project, according to data from the Ministry of Labor.

Regarding the waste collection crisis, emphasis was placed on the Cabinet's decision in its last session to form a governmental team to follow up on waste landfill issues in various governorates and to work on mobilizing financial resources and grants for waste management projects and providing equipment and machinery to support local entities, with the implementation of some of these projects to begin in the coming months.

Among the contributions previously provided for Tulkarem Governorate was supplying the Kafr Qaddum Municipality with a "Bajer" vehicle worth 460,000 shekels, and the tender for purchasing a waste vehicle for Atill Municipality worth 450,000 shekels, in addition to supplying about 200 waste containers that were recently delivered to the Joint Services Council for the benefit of local entities.

The meeting also touched upon the needs of the governorate in the health and education sectors, the rehabilitation and opening of additional agricultural roads, and the efforts made to alleviate the electricity crisis, alongside several other issues being followed up and worked on to find viable solutions for, amid the extremely complex economic conditions facing local entities, the government, and various national institutions.