Hebron Mayor Khaled Osaily met on the 28th of July at his office with Mr. Frode Mauring, UNDP Representative in Palestine who was accompanied by Mr. Walid Hasna, Chief of Engineering and Infrastructure, Mr. Abdelmin’em Salem, Project Officer, Mr. Wahib Odwan, Southern West Bank Engineer and Ms. Dania Darwish, Communications Officer. The meeting, which was also attended by Hebron Municipal Council member Engineer Kamal Al Dweik, City Engineer Tawfiq Arafa and a number of senior Municipality officials, aimed at presenting municipal projects and discussing future cooperation.
After he welcomed his guests, Osaily spoke about his vision for the development of Hebron’s various sectors. He highlighted projects in the youths and sports sectors, underlining their positive impact on the local community. He also spoke about vital infrastructure projects aimed at ensuring urban, industrial, cultural and innovative revival in the city. Moreover, Osaily touched on efforts made by Hebron Municipality to improve economic conditions, boost commercial activity, support industrial activity with special focus on handicrafts, public-private partnerships as well as partnerships with other institutions which take part in economic activity in Hebron Governorate. He highlighted the project aimed at building the capacities of Hebron Municipality’s Economic Department, funded by the Ministry of Local Government.
Osaily focused on recently completed projects such as the Hussain bin Ali Stadium, the Indoor Sports Hall, Tareq bin Ziyad Community Center and the Korean-Palestinian Center to be inaugurated in the coming weeks. “It is very important to provide the necessary infrastructure for young people to channel their energy, polish their skills and develop intellectual, cultural and sports creativity within the local community while at the same time developing service sectors and supporting the infrastructure needed to ensure high quality services to inhabitants”, he added.
As for the Municipality’s future objectives, Osaily said that efforts are underway to achieve a full-fledged E-Municipality. “80% of the work has already been made, with customers communicating with their Municipality through its website. Municipal sectors have also been developed in line with the E-Municipality objective to enable them to handle all types of data. The Municipality has become a reference for many other Palestinian municipalities especially in matters relating to its GIS system and to the Remote Control System for the Hebron Water Network, funded with the participation of UNDP with a view to improving water management in Hebron and its Governorate, which is the largest Palestinian Governorate in terms of population”, he said.
Osaily also touched on partnerships and cooperation between local authorities in Palestinian Governorates, such as the cooperation between Hebron and Bethlehem Governorates in the Solid Waste Management Project. “Such cooperation has helped improve economic conditions in the two Governorates, provided job opportunities and reduced the costs of solid waste disposal. Many benefits shall be reaped in the future from assembling solid wastes from both Governorates in one modern landfill”, he added.
Mr. Mauring expressed his admiration for the achievements realized by Hebron Municipality in record time. He underlined the importance of credibility and transparency when disseminating information and providing it to residents in order to ensure fruitful cooperation between local authorities and inhabitants. He wished the Municipality all success in becoming a full-fledged E-Municipality.
The meeting ended with a visit to several municipal sectors and buildings. Both parties agreed to continue their cooperation and joint action and to develop various cooperation mechanisms for the public good.