The Association of Palestinian Local Authorities held a workshop under the title “Planning and Work in the so-called Areas C.” This came as part of the workshops implemented within the Municipal Technical Exchange Hubs, specifically the Engineering and Planning Hub, which targets the directors of engineering departments in the local authorities that are members of the hub.
This virtual workshop included the participation and presence of a member of the APLA executive committee, the Mayor of Qalqilya, Dr. Hashem Al-Masri, and APLA’s Executive Director Eng. Abdallah Anati. It also included a representative of the Ministry of Local Government Eng. Jihad Rabaya, and coordinator of the engineering and planning hub Eng. Murad Al-Tamimi, in addition to representatives of local authorities and members of the engineering Hub.
APLA’s Executive Director Eng. Anati opened the workshop by welcoming all speakers and participants. He talked about the importance of exchanging experiences between local authorities in the issues they face in their daily work. He stressed that empowering local authorities, especially those located in so-called areas “C” is an urgent necessity in all circumstances, especially in light of the exceptional circumstances that have arisen because of the spread of the Corona virus and its repercussions.
Eng. Jihad Rabay'a from the Ministry of Local Government reviewed the experience and vision of the ministry in urban planning and strategic planning for the so-called areas "C", calling on local authorities to carry out structural plans for their territories, regardless of obstacles and Israeli laws seeking to evacuate, control and confiscate lands.
The Mayor of Qalqilya, Dr. Al-Masri gave a presentation on the municipality’s experience by laying out a complete structure for the expansion areas inside and outside the separation wall. He noted that despite the obstacles the municipality faced, today it exercises its full administrative influence in those areas, especially after a decision was taken by the LGU in Qalqilya to extend administrative influence in the areas of structural expansion and the decision to supervise construction in those areas, and to provide the necessary infrastructure for them.
The workshop included presentations of the experiences of LGUs in the framework of planning and expansion areas, most of which in the so-called areas “C”. There was a presentation by the representative of the Joint Cooperation Unit of the municipalities of Ramallah, Al-Bireh and Beitunia, Eng. Khawla Al-Taweel, the two representatives of the municipality of Al-Bireh Eng. Dima Joudeh and Eng. Fida Azim, in addition to Eng. Bissan Tmaizeh, who presented the experience of the Municipality of Ithna in this regard.
It is worth mentioning that this workshop comes within the Hubs project for exchanging experiences between LGUs, which is implemented in partnership between APLA and the Local Governance Reform Program at the GIZ. This includes five Hubs: The Engineering and Planning Hub, the Financial Management Hub, the Public Relations Hub, the Village Councils Hubs, and the Creativity and Innovation Hub.
