A policy day discusses updating the master plan of Al-Shoka
A policy day discusses updating the master plan of Al-Shoka
2/3/2021
Within the project for developing marginalised local communities, the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution held a policy day at Al-Shoka Municipality discussing the updating of the Al-Shoka structural plan. Taking…
Taking part in the meeting were the mayor Mr. Ziad Al-Dabari, Mr. Fayez Jabara and Eng. Adel Abu Labda; the Community Development and Accountability Committee, Partners in Al-Shoka; representatives of the fragile neighbourhoods in Al-Shoka; and the meeting's guests, Eng. Khaled Ayyash, secretary of the central committee at local government, and Eng. Rana Abu Shamala, acting director of the planning department of Rafah governorate. The meeting was run by Eng. Iman Abu Saeed of the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution.
The question of updating the Al-Shoka structural plan, updated in 2017, was reviewed. It was recently announced in the official gazette to receive objections from citizens, since the structural plan works to lay the foundations of an urban town that includes all the services and facilities that meet the residents' needs.
The meeting examined the extent to which the Al-Shoka structural plan reconciles citizens' needs with regional development policies, and gives greater opportunity for public participation and the right to scrutinise and object to the plans. Residents raised their concerns, and examples and scenarios were presented by citizens in which applying the structural plan might negatively affect their property and homes if their ownership is established.
The output of the meeting is a policy paper proposing practical, applicable solutions to the problem at the level of policies and procedures, whose implementation the community committee will follow up over the coming months.
The most important points in these policies (the proposed implementation period is 6 to 12 months):
The municipality's responsibility:
Forming a committee to study all the objections, numbering 138, and coordinating with all the objectors.
Carrying out field visits to all the properties owned by the objectors, conducting a survey, studying all their documents, papers and consent deeds, and examining the rates of deduction from those properties and how lawful they are.
Citizens' responsibility:
– Preparing all the documents and papers, such as licences and consent deeds, and submitting them to the Al-Shoka municipality.
The responsibility of local government:
Reviewing the objection files submitted by the municipality and updating the structural plan accordingly.
The Marginalised Local Communities Development Project is implemented in partnership with seven municipalities in the central and southern Gaza Strip (Al-Bureij, Al-Qarara, New Abasan, Khuza'a, Al-Shoka, Al-Nasr and Rafah), implemented through the Municipal Development and Lending Fund (MDLF) with funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the German development agency GIZ.
