Rubbish

One of the things that has puzzled me is that there is a lot of rubbish everywhere in Bethlehem. People throw domestic rubbish in the streets and on vacant land. I have wondered why.

With the Annexation Wall around Bethlehem, disposal of solid waste is a big issue for the city. Recognising the problem of disposing of solid waste, the World Bank has funded the al-Minya landfill to the east of Bethlehem for the use of the Palestinians.

The landfill has been under construction for the last two years in a portion of Area C just east of Bethlehem. The landfill is the first modern waste landfill in the southern West Bank. It was built to serve the needs of nearly 800,000 residents of Bethlehem and Hebron regions, amounting to around 34 percent of all solid waste in the West Bank.
However, in January, the Israeli authorities announced that the landfill site could not be used for Palestinian waste. Israelis are allowed access to the site, even though it is within the Palestinian territories. 

In the UK we take waste disposal so much for granted. Here, you cannot take anything for granted. With so many people constrained to live in a small area, and with nowhere to put the rubbish, it ends up on the street. 

A Palestinian said to me yesterday that he was expecting soon to have a charge on the air he breathes.