The meeting was organized between a group of refugees, the municipality and other officials representing several ministries to discuss the general needs of the people in the camp and the solutions to these problems.
This included the need for a cemetery, the problem of the quality of the drinking water and the problems with the sewage system.
No.
of participants 47, 8 women Key Speakers: Mr.
Ghazi Abu Khattab, Mayor of Al Maghazi Mr.
Mueen Khayal, director of the Local Government Department, Middle Gaza.
Mr.
Jamal Al Mghari, director general of the Awqaf Department, Middle Gaza.
Mr.
Fareed Al Gharably, director of theplanning and Int,l relations in the Ministry of Transportation.
Summary of issues raised by the guest speakers: The Municipality made big investments in the infrastructure in Al Maghazi.
There are however some technical issues that require resolution and a lack of funding that may delay some projects.
The Municipality, together with other institutions and NGOs, is working on finding a suitable location for a new cemetery.
There are problems in water facilities in the Middle area of the Gaza Strip.
The Ministry of Local Government and the municipalities are working on a joint project to solve the problem.
The Ministry of Transportation cannot allow to build a permanent project on the land near the camp as it is assigned to future railway projects.
The municipality, however, can have small and temporary projects on this land.
The Municipality will coordinate with UNRWA and the residents of the camp to deal with the problem of solid waste removal.
Volunteering is welcome.
Summary of answers given by the public: There is an urgent need for a grave yard in the camp.
People cannot find a place to bury their dead.
The quality and quantity of drinking water are not adequate, the municipality should watch them.
There is land near the camp that can be used for projects.
It is owned by the Ministry of Transportation and it was used for good projects in the surrounding towns due to a lack of government land.
There are problems in other services, such as the electricity and solid waste in the camp, that need to be tackled.
The population is ready to cooperate in any solutions by the municipality or the UNRWA.
Planned and undertaken follow-up of issues raised:
The unit sent letters to the two parties asking them to resolve the urgent problems and to look in the people's demands, which affect their standard of life.
The letters talked about founding more wells and hurry in dealing with the sewage problems.
Summary of evaluation forms of participants and speakers:
The participants expressed their appreciation to the Center's initiative to raise this complicated problems and meet with officials.
The evaluation forms reflected positive assessment of the meeting from the part of both the Participants and the guest speakers, including the theme, place and timing of the meeting were appropriate and the results sound.