Booming construction industry beats Israeli blockade as materials are smuggled in through tunnels
Harriet Sherwood Gaza City
The Observer, Saturday 21 January 2012
"......Arabeed is the beneficiary of an extraordinary economic spurt in Gaza – not just in construction, but also agriculture, the hotel and restaurant industry, transport and manufacturing. All sectors have seen growth over the past year, with private sector employment increasing by more than 50%, albeit from a very low base, according to the United Nations refugee agency, Unrwa.
But it is in the construction industry that the mini-boom is most visible. After being starved of materials during Israel's three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, the territory is cluttered with the skeletons of new buildings. Apartment blocks, hospitals, schools, hotels and mosques are sprouting all over Gaza. The rutted beachfront road in Gaza City is being transformed into a corniche.....
But illegally imported aggregate, concrete and steel is pouring through the tunnels between Rafah, in the far south of Gaza, and Egypt. During the blockade, the tunnels kept Gaza supplied with everything from chocolate to cigarettes, fridge freezers to cars, medicines to live animals. Now the black market entrepreneurs are concentrating on demand for construction materials.
In September, 9,100 tons of aggregate was legally imported into Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, according to Unrwa. Almost 10 times that quantity, around 90,000 tons, came through the tunnels. Figures for steel bars show a similar pattern: 1,418 tons through Kerem Shalom; 15,000 tons through the tunnels......"
Harriet Sherwood Gaza City
The Observer, Saturday 21 January 2012
"......Arabeed is the beneficiary of an extraordinary economic spurt in Gaza – not just in construction, but also agriculture, the hotel and restaurant industry, transport and manufacturing. All sectors have seen growth over the past year, with private sector employment increasing by more than 50%, albeit from a very low base, according to the United Nations refugee agency, Unrwa.
But it is in the construction industry that the mini-boom is most visible. After being starved of materials during Israel's three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, the territory is cluttered with the skeletons of new buildings. Apartment blocks, hospitals, schools, hotels and mosques are sprouting all over Gaza. The rutted beachfront road in Gaza City is being transformed into a corniche.....
But illegally imported aggregate, concrete and steel is pouring through the tunnels between Rafah, in the far south of Gaza, and Egypt. During the blockade, the tunnels kept Gaza supplied with everything from chocolate to cigarettes, fridge freezers to cars, medicines to live animals. Now the black market entrepreneurs are concentrating on demand for construction materials.
In September, 9,100 tons of aggregate was legally imported into Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, according to Unrwa. Almost 10 times that quantity, around 90,000 tons, came through the tunnels. Figures for steel bars show a similar pattern: 1,418 tons through Kerem Shalom; 15,000 tons through the tunnels......"
No comments:
Post a Comment