- Title: GAZA: Sewage at the beaches, piles of garbage mar Gaza summer
- Date: 29th June 2014
- Summary: GAZA CITY, GAZA (JUNE 29, 2014) (REUTERS) CARS DRIVING BY BEACH VARIOUS OF LARGE SIGN IN ARABIC WARNING RESIDENTS NOT TO SWIM OR FISH IN THE BEACH VARIOUS OF RAW SEWAGE BEING PUMPED IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA HEAD OF THE GAZA ENVIRONMENT QUALITY AUTHORITY, BAHA AL-AGHA, ENTERING HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF THE GAZA ENVIRONMENT QUALITY AUTHORITY, BAHA AL-AGHA, SA
- Embargoed: 14th July 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Gaza
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Health
- Reuters ID: LVAB4SX4AK6IM7V3BCJGAYUF1TM1
- Story Text: This summer, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip seeking some relief from the grind of life in an enclave plagued by conflict and hardship will not have the sandy beaches as an option, environmental authorities said on Sunday (June 29).
Access to the cooling waters of the Mediterranean is gradually being closed off to Gaza's 1.8 million residents, due to pollution stemming from fuel shortages that have halted work at sewage treatment facilities.
Baha al-Agha of the Gaza Environment Quality Authority said about 100,000 cubic metres of untreated waste water are being pumped into the Gaza shore daily.
"Swimming is prohibited" signs have gone up at several beaches. But at one of Gaza's most popular beaches, dozens of people, including children, splashed in the water over the weekend despite the posted warning.
"The only recreation option that is available for the residents of Gaza is the beach during the summer. The pollution of most of the beach in these high levels will prevent tens of thousands of residents from the only recreation option for this year," Agha said.
He called on the Palestinian unity government formed earlier this month to act immediately.
Gaza residents said they had little to celebrate at the start on Sunday of the Muslim month of Ramadan - traditionally a time for worship but also for family feasts in the evening at the end of a daily daytime fast.
Garbage has been piling up on the streets, with some 75 percent of sanitation trucks idled by the Gaza municipality's inability to pay high fuel prices.
Driving along Gaza's coastal road, the smell of sewage is sharp and waves hitting the beach are yellowish and brown.
"As a Palestinian people we don't know which blows to fend off -- the blockade, the Israelis, the sewage or being closed off to the Arab world. We feel like the whole world is standing against us, surrounding us," Gaza City resident, Asad Al-Najjar said.
"So we don't know what to do, the only breathing space for us as a Palestinian people is the sea, now it's closed. So where are we supposed to go? what shall we do?"
Egypt's closure of most of the estimated 1,200 cross-border smuggling tunnels run by Islamist group Hamas has virtually stopped cheap Egyptian fuel coming into Gaza.
Egypt's military-backed government fear the tunnels are used to take weapons into the Sinai Peninsula, and accuses Hamas of backing the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas denies it helps militants in Egypt.
Israel has its own blockade on Gaza, allowing in fuel and restricted imports since Hamas took control in 2007. But the Israeli fuel costs twice as much as Egyptian imports. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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