CAIRO, March 16 (MENA) – Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty and Health and Population Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar on Monday will hold a meeting with foreign ambassadors and representatives of international organizations to discuss how to rehabilitate the health sector in the Gaza Strip.
A high-profile diplomatic source said the meeting comes in light of the catastrophic situation in Gaza, where nearly 2.2 million Palestinians have been displaced, while more than 150,000 people have been killed or injured and some 50% of hospitals totally destroyed.
The Egypt-crafted plan, which was adopted by the Extraordinary Arab Summit held in Cairo and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s extraordinary meeting in Jeddah, comprises three phases:
** Early Recovery (six months, $3 billion):
Clearing rubble from the Salah Al-Din (central) axis and preparing for temporary housing;
Preparing the Salah Al-Din axis as a linking axis for reconstruction work;
Constructing 200,000 temporary housing units for 1.2 million people;
Beginning rubble removal and sorting from all areas parallel to the central axis towards the coast;
Restoring 60,000 partially damaged homes for 360,000 people;
Implementing a social protection
program and soft loan scheme for self-help rehabilitation.
** Reconstruction Phase 1 (two years, $20 billion):
Completing rubble removal and sorting, using it for coastal area landfill;
Establishing utilities and networks needed for phase one;
Building 200,000 housing units and completing the restoration of 60,000 units to house 1.6 million people;
Constructing essential service buildings for phase one;
Reclaiming 20,000 feddans of land;
Continuing social protection programs and soft loan schemes for self-help rehabilitation.
** Reconstruction Phase 2 (2.5 years, $30 billion):
Establishing utilities and networks needed for phase two;
Building 200,000 housing units for 1.2 million people, bringing total housing to 460,000 units for 2.75 million people;
Constructing essential service buildings for phase two;
Establishing the first phase of the 600-feddan industrial zone;
Building fishing and commercial ports;
Constructing 10km of Corniche Road, the first phase of coastal development;
Building Gaza Airport.
** Overall plan:
The five-year plan is set to conclude by 2030 at a total cost of $53 billion.
It targets accommodating a population of three million Palestinians, with a density of approximately 35 people per feddan. (MENA)
