Press Release

October 6, 2009

Nablus, West Bank –The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Palestinian Authority celebrated the inauguration of a new project in Mount Jerzim in the Nablus Governorate implemented under USAID’s Emergency Water and Sanitation and Other Infrastructure Program. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and USAID Mission Director Howard Sumka attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony along with Palestinian Authority Ministers, Governors, Palestinian dignitaries, and representatives of the Samaritan community.
USAID contributed more than $120,000 for the replacement of Mount Jerzim Water Network. The project provided 735 members of the Samaritan community living in 145 houses on Mount Jerzim access to clean and potable water. The project, which was implemented by ANERA, created 820 person-days of employment for the local workers.
Before the implementation of the project, the Samaritan community relied mainly on a crippling water network installed in the 1980s. The old network caused water pollution and wasted a considerable amount of water through leakages. Many in the community did not feel safe drinking the water.
Since October 2008, the Emergency Water and Sanitation and Other Infrastructure Program has been providing rapid response and emergency relief in the water and sanitation sectors, as well as in other sectors as needed, to address the basic infrastructure needs of the Palestinian people. The program will rehabilitate, expand, and upgrade water and sewage systems and deliver potable water to needy communities. This program will support high priority activities in water conservation and community sanitation and allow USAID to quickly respond to emergency and humanitarian needs.
Since 1994, USAID has provided more than $2.9 billion in U.S. economic assistance to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza via projects designed to reduce poverty, improve health and education, implement infrastructure and water projects, create jobs, and promote democracy and good governance.