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Obstacles Faced JWU Operations
The Undertaking losses during the Israeli Incursion (29/3/2002 -23/4/2002) of Ramallah/Al-Bireh Governorate reach over 217 thousand dollars
From March 29th till April 23rd 2002, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) invaded and occupied Ramallah and Al-Bireh twin cities. The IOF imposed a very strict curfew for more than three weeks. At first, no movement in the streets was allowed: Road blocks were placed, electricity was cut, electric installations were severely damaged and the main water pipes were dug out in more than 100 locations, causing major damage to the network. One main pumping station, supplying more than 70% of the population with water was occupied by the army and was made totally idle. In the first four days of the incursion, access to the station was denied to JWU staff. For 24 days, JWU faced the following conditions and subsequent risks and damages: Act of war, curfew, failure of electricity supplies, major destruction and loss of pressure in the network. More than 50% of the emergency (on duty) workforce was detained while performing their duties. On April the 4th, the Israeli soldiers broke into JWU’s head offices and started a search that ended with the detention of seven out of the eight emergency staff members present there. The total number of JWU detained employees reached 18 employees. Last but not least, JWU lost considerable amounts of its working capital, cash reserves and daily cash flow.
It wasn’t possible for JWU’s staff to reach the pumping stations or to repair a broken pipeline without going through a lengthy and complicated process of coordination with the Israeli District Coordination Office (DCO). After getting the DCO’s approval, JWU emergency repair crews need to be escorted by Red Cross delegates. This process was a must for each and every similar mission. After three unsuccessful attempts to reach the station it was established that the army was occupying the station and three out of the four pumping units were out of order due to major defect in the electrical motors.
It wasn’t possible to operate the only functioning pumping unit in the station without the Electricity Company’s help and interference. There was a need to cut off electricity from the source in order to reset the programmable logic Controller (PLC) in the station. Only after such measure was taken, JWU was again able to operate the station from the IT Director’s computer at home. The full co- operation of the Regional Director of the Electricity Company made this possible (through cutting off power for sixty seconds). Thus unit number 4 was remotely operated, reducing the water crisis by 30%.
The curfew was lifted for three hours on the 7th of April. JWU engineers seized this lift to visit the pumping station, evaluate the damages and check the number of standby electrical motors in stock, which proved to be two. These two identical motors were used to replace two of the damaged motors until the problem is solved permanently. The replacement process took 24 hours to be successfully completed.
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