Coordinator of Government Activity in the (liberated) Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai the PA Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh on Sunday signed the renewal of the Joint Water Committee, as part of the Oslo Accords. The JWC will be entrusted with overhauling the decrepit water infrastructure in the PA, which has been neglected, like many other issues, under the PLO-dominated government.
According to the agreement, the JWC will discuss providing more water to the PA and the Gaza Strip faster, using existing resources and drilling for new ones. The committee will also deal with environmental issues, water tariffs, and water for agricultural use. The new agreement also calls for installing new water and sewage pipes in the PA.
The revived committee will coordinate and supervise water reservoir usage, ahead of the summer months.
The COGAT statement said, “The signing of this water agreement proves that it’s possible to reach understandings and agreements when we discuss issues substantively, bilaterally, clean of extraneous issues of natural resources and additional infrastructures that affect the entire population. Over the past year and half, we’ve signed four agreements: electricity, water, mail and 3G cellular infrastructure, which is intended to improve the quality of life for all the populations in the region.”
