Thank you Mr. Chairman,
Allow me to begin first by extending Palestine?s congratulations to you and the bureau
members on your election and to express our happiness to see you chairing our meeting
today.
We wish also to thank ESCWA for preparing the comprehensive report of the Regional
implementation meetings with the cooperation of the Arab league and the regional office
for West Asia of the United Nations Environment programme. We also express our
appreciation to the Panelists, Dr. Anhar Hijazi and Dr. Abdel Baset for their important
presentations.
Beside the challenges that the panelists referred to in their presentations, the West Asia
region houses nations with special circumstances and challenges in the area of sustainable
development. Specifically, peoples living under foreign occupation, like the Palestinian
People, confront challenges unique to their circumstances and the on-going belligerence
of the Occupying Power. This reality directly impacts the five topics addressed in the
current cycle. In essence, it has become increasingly evident that occupation has proven
to be counterproductive
To cite just a few examples:
The Palestinian transportation sector faces tremendous challenges and continues to lag
behind our set development goals. This is due to the long-time negligence of the
Occupying power in addition to military assaults targeting this sector. This sector is also
ailing due to the draconian policies of the Occupying Power, which curtail Palestinians?
ability to develop the transportation sector and needed infrastructure; a practice that has
negatively and clearly affected the economic cycle as well. And while international donor
projects have focused on the construction of much needed infrastructure projects, the
restrictions of the Occupying Power have also prevented the completion of many of these
projects.
Another example is the unmonitored and unregulated dumping of hazardous and
chemical waste from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank into the
valleys and underground water resources of the Occupied Territory.
Waste management is yet another area where Palestinians face serious difficulties. For
while Palestinian land is used as dumping grounds for solid waste from illegal
settlements, the occupation authorities have often prevented Palestinians from accessing
areas appropriate for this use. Hence, the location and method of waste management is
often forced upon Palestinians by these occupation practices, rather than decided
according to necessity. We also face great difficulties in bringing needed equipment for
waste management, hence obstructing our efforts to provide Palestinian citizens with this
vital service.
Finally, let me also touch upon the issue of occupations illegal exploitation of quarries in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. This practice constitutes a
serious infringement upon Palestinians? right to their natural resources for the purposes of
development and poses a direct threat to the environment as these sites are not subject to
environmental regulation.
We therefore hope that future regional reports on West Asia highlight the unique
circumstances and challenges confronting peoples under occupation, in line with the
consistent position adopted by the CSD in this regard. Here, I would also like to ask the
panelists to shed some light on the issues related to the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
which they came across when preparing this report on the five topics under discussion.
