APLA concluded a series of field visits for the local authorities targeted under the Local Authorities Network for Sustainable Development "L.A.N.D" project, with the aim of studying the reality of local authorities and the challenges they face, especially concerning issues related to the environment, wastes, sanitation and the obstacles it faces with that regard. This was attended by APLA's Technical and Legal Support Unit Manager, Eng. Abdelmo'men Afanah; Project Coordinator at APLA, Eng. Widad Al-Qadi; Project Director, Morino Caporalini; and Project Coordinator, Ciara Choliti, representing FELCOS UMBRIA.
Project Coordinator, Eng. Al-Qadi clarified that the visits were conducted for the local authorities central to the target communities under the project, which will be established for joint work in environmental issues, indicating that the project targets two clusters: Western Ramallah Cluster; Beit Liqia and Ni'lin municipalities, and Southern Nablus Cluster; Beita and Huwwarah municipalities. A total of 14 village councils will be targeted within the Western Ramallah Cluster and another 7 village councils within the Southern Nablus Cluster.
The four municipalities received the project team in the presence of its Mayors: Yousef Al-Khawajah, Mayor of Ni'lin; Eng. Arij Assi, Mayor of Beit Liqia; Mahmoud Barham, Mayor of Beita; and Mo'een Al-Dmeidi, Mayor of Huwwarah, in addition to a group of municipal members and technical teams. The visits included a presentation of the key environmental services provided by the municipalities accompanied by filed visits to the key projects implemented by the municipalities to face environmental issues, as well as the locations suffering environmental problems. The role of APLA and FELCOS UMBRIA, which mainly aims to enhance local authorities' capacities for planning and management in the frame of joint environmental services.
It is worth mentioning that APLA implements the "L.A.N.D" project for the benefit of local authorities in Palestine, funded by AICS, in cooperation with ANCI UMBRIA, ANCI Trasimeno, FELCOS UMBRIA, Trasimeno Servizi Ambientali, Unione dei Comuni Terre dell'Olio e del Sagrantino, Assisi Municipality, Autorità Igienico-sanitaria dell'Umbria.
