The farmer Ibrahimal-Majaida and his sons were building up sand mounds at the edges of their farm to fend off wastewater, which comes from a nearby sewage basin in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis.

Al-Majaida's farm is located at al-Mawasi area, which is in west part of the city, considered as one of the most agriculturally fertile territories in the poor and narrow enclave of the Gaza Strip. Al-Mawasi area used to be occupied by more than12 Israeli settlements which were already evacuated and dismantled.

The sewage basins, which were established one year ago by the municipality of Khan Younis as part of an internationally-funded urgent project to deal with the wastewater, might harm and damage large areas of the fertile land with fruit trees and crops.

According to the project, the wastewater was supposed to flow into the sea. However, nearly three years of an Israeli blockade on Gaza hindered the municipality from bringing the needed sewage and wastewater pumps and machines to finalize the project.

Al-Majaida revealed that the trees, which he and other farmers grew in the area, "were polluted because the wastewater basin is very close to their farms," adding "now I can say that around 20 to 25 wells for drinking water were also polluted."

"I think the polluted area might expand and harm the rest of the area if the municipality doesn't find a quick solution to this crisis," said Al-Majaida.

He called on the authorities to take actions as quickly as possible, "to rescue the area from the pollution," adding "there are reports which reveal that the Guava and Dates trees we grow up here have been polluted and vendors become cautious of purchasing the produce here."

Al-Majaida dug a half-meter hole in the ground of his farm to show the black soil, underneath which there is shallow water. Around his farm, the basins of wastewater can be clearly seen, full of dry plants and different kinds of insects that would harm the produce of the fruit trees and vegetables.

Amjad el-Agha, a resident of al-Mawasi cultural area, told Xinhua, "although the water of our area once was the sweetest and the healthiest, now we have to go to downtown to buy filtered water to drink."

Mohamed el-Farrah, governor of Khan Younis, denied that the underground water was polluted, adding "what has been polluted is only the surface of the water."

"The aim of the basin wastewater project is to solve the problem of wastewater which might one day fill the streets and houses of Khan Younis." said el-Farrah.

However, he admitted that the incomplete project "has caused a problem to the nearby farms, mainly those close to the wastewater basins."

He added that the city of Khan Younis, which has a population of 200,000 people, is facing a dangerous threat that all its streets and houses would sink into the wastewater.

"Therefore, we went to this choice (of establishing the sewage water basin project) to solve the problem, which is the best option at the stage," said el-Farrah.

(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2009)