[ 06/03/2012 - 11:08 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The Gaza authority of energy and natural resources has signed an agreement with the Egyptian petroleum company to supply the Gaza Strip with the diesel fuel needed to operate its power plant.

In a press release on Monday, the energy authority stated that the Gaza power plant would be supplied with a kind of fuel that is actually used for automobiles and this would be a temporary solution, but later industrial fuel would be pumped into Gaza.

The energy authority added that it would embark on Monday morning on installing and preparing all pipelines and equipment needed for that purpose in Rafah border area.

In a related context, Salah Desuki, the rapporteur of the relief committee at the Egyptian union of physicians, said that a relief committee for Gaza people was formed under the auspices of the Arab affairs committee at the parliament.

Desuki added that a session was held recently at the Egyptian parliament in the presence of a number of relief organizations to explore avenues of helping Gaza.

He affirmed that the organizations demanded the Egyptian government to open the Rafah border crossing permanently and revoke the crossing agreement signed in 2005 between the Palestinian authority, the Israeli occupation, the European union and Egypt, especially since it expired in 2010.

He noted that the Islamic development bank is ready to finance the power plant in Gaza, providing that Egypt should approve that.

The parliamentary session was attended by representatives of the union of Arab doctors, the house of food organization, the Red Crescent.

For his part, Abdul-Moneim Abulfutuh, a likely candidate for the presidency in Egypt, said the current Egyptian passive position towards the power crisis in Gaza and the suffering of its people is unacceptable, especially since Egypt still supply the Israeli occupation state with natural gas.

In a conference at the national youth council on Monday, Abulfutu stated that if he won the presidential election, he would work on ending the Egyptian gas agreement with Israel, stressing that the Palestinian cause is a national security issue for Egypt.

Thousands of workers to lose their jobs due to power outage

[ 06/03/2012 - 11:10 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The general syndicate of workshop owners in Gaza Strip has warned that thousands of workers would lose their jobs in the event the electricity crisis persisted in the enclave.

Chief of the syndicate Sami Al-Amasi said in a statement on Monday that more than 7000 workers would join the long queue of unemployed in Gaza.

He said that the workshops were suffering fuel shortage as well, adding that the workers were passing through a difficult stage.

Amasi noted that the current power crisis in Gaza had led 90% of the total 3900 workshops to close down due to shortage of fuel to generate power while the remaining 10% were working only partially.

He warned that thousands of Palestinian families would suffer as a result of laying off their breadwinners.