15 May 2009As recovery in the Gaza Strip continues, efforts to provide the population with even the most basic services, such as water and sanitation, are severely
hampered by restrictions on imports of construction materials, fuel and electricity."It's a great challenge to carry out construction projects in the Strip, as building materials cannot be
imported," said Marek Komarzynski, an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) engineer working in Gaza. "Humanitarian organisations such as the ICRC are forced either to come up with
alternative and creative ways of proceeding or to put essential projects on hold."This week, the ICRC began work upgrading a wastewater treatment plant, in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
When the project is completed, the plant will treat 20,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day and serve 175,000 inhabitants.Relief and recoveryThe British Red Cross Gaza Crisis
Appeal has so far raised £325,000 and the organisation was allocated a further £521,000 from the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal. We currently have a relief delegate working with the
ICRC in Gaza and a physiotherapist working in the Gaza Artificial Limb and Polio Orthopaedic Centre.Andy Brimelow, British Red Cross head of international finance, returned from a monitoring
mission in April where he met with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and ICRC to see the progress of operations and use of British Red Cross funds. He said: "The ICRC and PRCS were handing
out relief the day after hostilities stopped, this went on from 19 Jan-19 March. "It's clear that the items provided were the things that were needed. Even though many people are staying at
other people's houses, they still need mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets and hygiene sets."Challenging logisticsAndy continued: "When you speak to the logistics people here,
they say moving things around is very difficult. The situation is still tense and we need to be prepared for whatever might happen. "Some people are homeless, some are in camps but most people
are staying with relatives. There is currently no re-building because of the difficulty of getting materials into Gaza. Only relief items can get through."British Red Cross supportWe have supported the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement response by:
funding ICRC medical supplies for the first three months of 2009
funding an ambulance and a
truck for transporting relief supplies, including candles, mattresses, blankets and first aid kits for the PRCS
donating £50,000 to Magen David Adom (National Society of Israel) for their
disaster management activities.
Demonstrators hold burning Israeli and U.S. flags during in front of the press syndicate in Cairo May 14, 2009. Demonstrators marked the 61st anniversary of the displacement of hundreds of thousands ...
