Gaza- major health and environmental problems due to waste, international efforts to remove them and search for solutions

Jamil was talking to the United Nations News correspondent in Gaza while he was standing near the tents of the displaced people in the Tel Al -Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, and the scenes of garbage accumulation and waste seemed clear, as flies, mosquitoes and bad smells spread, as Jamil explained, adding: “Diseases affect our children and are transmitted to us. We cannot sit here.”.

this “Bad situation” It is also what Abeer Abu Harbid, the Palestinian displaced from the town of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, who told our correspondent: “The waste affected us in all respects, whether from the strange mosquitoes that leave its capacities on the face, or from the smell that we can never tolerate. We cannot walk here because of the disgusting scene.”.

As for the Palestinian displaced Sobhi Al -Kafarneh, he said that “Life has become unbearable,” Adding: “The waste affected people, whether in terms of unpleasant smells or from a lack of sleep. Children have diseases.”.

“A huge mountain of waste”

In the face of those piles of garbage, bulldozers accompanied by trucks work in an attempt to clean the place and transport those piles away from the residents and the displaced. Those vehicles and workers accompanying them are affiliated with the United Nations Development Fund, which works on various projects to alleviate the effects of the waste crisis and garbage spread in the streets and camps throughout the sector.

Our correspondent visited the temporary landfill in Gaza City, which is known as the Firas market, and there Alessandro Marackshi, director of the United Nations Development Program office in Gaza, met.

Marackshi said in front of a garbage hill: “There is a huge mountain of waste accumulated since the beginning of the war. Initially, it was a very small space for waste collection, but its height now exceeds seven meters, and we currently have about 200,000 cubic meters of waste here. This is unacceptable, not for the city, nor families, children, and shops. It has become a healthy priority, especially with the approaching summer.”.

Search for solutions

The UN official confirmed that they are working to search for solutions to this problem, adding: “We are ready, in cooperation with contractors, to transfer waste, and we only wait for the green light to transfer it to a temporary alternative site near Gaza City, where we cannot currently reach the main waste of the waste. This is our top priority at the present time.”.

He explained that the program is coordinated with the infrastructure working group and leads to work on solid waste management in cooperation with many partners. He also emphasized that they are working in the southern sector, in cooperation with UNICEF, the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and other major partners, to ensure the collection of waste from the streets and disposal of them properly, adding: “We hope that we can again transfer it to a suitable healthy waste dump.”.