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GAZA / WATER SUPPLY COLLAPSE
STORY: GAZA / WATER SUPPLY COLLAPSE
TRT: 2.23
SOURCE: UNEP / UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 14 SEPTEMBER 2009, NAIROBI, KENYA / FILE
14 SEPTEMBER 2009, NAIROBI, KENYA
1. Various shots, exterior UN headquarters in Nairobi
2. Wide shot, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and lead author Olof Linden presenting report at a press conference
3. Tilt down, journalist taking notes
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
“The report identifies a number of direct impacts following the escalation of violence in December 2008 and January 2009. But in addition to that it also points to the fact that, for instance the issue of the water aquifer that supplies the water to the people of Gaza is now highly threatened. For thousands of years it has maintained people in that area. In a few more years it may not be able to do so. To address this issue, partly from over extraction but also because of salt water intrusion now coming from the Mediterranean, will mean that urgent action is needed to ensure that the future water supplies of Gaza can be assured.”
FILE – UNICEF – 11 JANUARY 2009, SHEIKH RADWAN, GAZA
5. Pan right, rubble, broken water tanks
FILE – UNICEF – 14 JANUARY 2009, AL SHATEE CAMP, GAZA
6. Wide shot, girl washing dishes in courtyard
7. Med shot, girl washing dishes
8. Close up, girl washing spoon
FILE – UNICEF – 7 AUGUST, 2006, GAZA, OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
9. Pan right, water station, people collecting water from large tank
10. Med shot, young boys collecting water
11. Med shot, young boy collecting water in yellow containers
14 SEPTEMBER 2009, NAIROBI, KENYA
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Olof Linden, World Maritime University:
“Not only is the groundwater level sinking rapidly, the contamination of the groundwater is also very serious. We have levels of pathogens, levels of nutrients, in the water that are beyond the standards recommended by WHO. We have also increasing salinity levels in the groundwater that renders the water practically impossible to use, particularly for drinking water but also even for agricultural use.”
FILE – UNICEF – 22 JANUARY 2009, KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA, GAZA STRIP
13. Wide shot, field
FILE – UNICEF – 11 JANUARY 2009, SHEIKH RADWAN, GAZA
14. Wide shot, bombed apartment building
15. Med shot, children searching rubble
16. Med shot, children searching rubble
17. Med shot, damaged apartment building
18. Close up, damage
FILE – UNICEF – 22 JANUARY 2009, KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA, GAZA STRIP
19. Wide shot, destruction
20. Wide shot, boys climbing over rubble
21. Wide shot, boys in street near destroyed building
A report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today (14 September) warns that the Gaza Strip’s underground water system is in serious danger of collapse after recent conflict compounded years of overuse and contamination.
SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
“The report identifies a number of direct impacts following the escalation of violence in December 2008 and January 2009. But in addition to that it also points to the fact that, for instance the issue of the water aquifer that supplies the water to the people of Gaza is now highly threatened. For thousands of years it has maintained people in that area. In a few more years it may not be able to do so. To address this issue, partly from over extraction but also because of salt water intrusion now coming from the Mediterranean, will mean that urgent action is needed to ensure that the future water supplies of Gaza can be assured.”
The report on the environmental condition of Gaza following Israel’s military operation in the region in late 2008 calls for the aquifer – supplying 1.5 million Palestinians with agricultural and drinking water – to be “rested” and alternative sources to be found.
UNEP estimated that more than 1.5 billion dollars may be needed over 20 years to restore the aquifer back to health, including the establishment of desalination plants to take pressure off the underground water supplies. It stresses that “since the aquifer is a continuum with Egypt and Israel, any such action must be coordinated with these countries.”
The key concerns contained in the report include a rise in salt-water intrusion from the sea caused by over-extraction of ground water, pollution from sewage and agricultural run-off, with toxic levels high enough to put infants at risk of nitrate poisoning.
One of the scientists behind the publication, Olof Linden, says the report shows the environmental situation in the Gaza strip is “serious” and points to a direct health implication particularly in small children from elevated nitrate levels in drinking water.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Olof Linden, World Maritime University:
“Not only is the groundwater level sinking rapidly, the contamination of the groundwater is also very serious. We have levels of pathogens, levels of nutrients, in the water that are beyond the standards recommended by WHO. We have also increasing salinity levels in the groundwater that renders the water practically impossible to use, particularly for drinking water but also even for agricultural use.”
The report examined the direct impact of the three-week Israeli offensive, which had the stated aim of ending rocket attacks by Hamas and other groups, and resulted in the deaths of at least 1,300 Palestinians and injuries to some 5,300.
It also assessed the likely economic costs of the hostilities – which reduced buildings and other infrastructure in Gaza to rubble causing 600,000 tons of debris – and recommends levels of investment needed to secure rehabilitation, recovery and the longer-term sustainability in the area.
The report calculates a cost of over seven million dollars for the removal and safe disposal of rubble, some of which is also contaminated with asbestos. It said another eleven million dollars would be needed to cover the damage to farmers’ livelihoods and for clean-up measures, with an estimated 17 per cent of cultivated land – including orchards and greenhouses – severely damaged.
Other consequences underscored in the report include sewage spills as a result of power cuts to treatment facilities, a build-up of hazardous hospital wastes at landfill sites generated in part as a result of the numbers injured, and the collapse of refuse collection services. It puts the cost of decommissioning existing landfills and establishing new solid waste management facilities at over 40 million dollars.
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