20 April,2009 08:38 AM IST | | AFP
Palestinians face dire water shortages because of both bad Palestinian management and Israeli restrictions, the World Bank said in a report today.
The report, the first of its kind, noted the "complete dependence" of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip "on scarce water resources shared and largely controlled by Israel."
It also underlined that "the joint governance rules and water allocations established under the 1995 Oslo interim agreement, still in effect today, fall short of the needs of the Palestinian people."
The report, entitled "Assessment of Restrictions on Palestinian Water Sector Development," said that "limited access to natural resources" impedes Palestinian economic development.
"Because of asymmetries in power, capacity and information between parties, interim governance rules and practices have resulted in systematic and severe constraints on Palestinian development of water resources, water uses, and wastewater management," it said.
"Furthermore, since 2000, the movement and access restrictions, consisting of physical impediments... have further impaired Palestinian access to water resources, infrastructure development and utility operations."
The report blamed both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel.
