EU pays salaries and pensions of 73000 Palestinian civil servants

Wednesday June 11, 2008 01:04

by George Rishmawi - IMEMC News

Around 73 thousand Palestinians received their pensions and salaries on Tuesday for the month of May after the European Union approved 23 million Euros (appx USD 34 million) in direct aid for the Palestinian Authority, a press release by the European Community Technical Assistance office for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning.

This aid has been provided by the Mechanism for Palestinian-European Management of Socio-Economic Aid. (MÃ©canisme Palestino-EuropÃ©en de Gestion et d'Aide Socio-Economique PEGASE.)

The EU's contribution will contribute to this monthâ€™s payment of salaries and pensions by the Palestinian Ministry of Finance, which in turn helps to ensure the continued delivery of essential public services. This month, both Spain and Sweden have contributed to the payment, the EC press release stated.

While the EC, the largest donor to the Palestinians, believes such contributions are part of the international assistance to help build a Palestinian State, local observers, believe that as much these funds are needed, yet, they help only to sustain the situation as it is, without eventually contribute to the independence of the Palestinian people.

This fund comes at a time the Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad has signed an agreement with the World Bank to donate another 40 million dollars to the PA.

Both PEGASE and the World Bank funds are fully in line with the priorities expressed by the Palestinian Authority in the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan led by PM of the care-taker government Fayyad who has been a senior World Bank official for 12 years.

PEGASE is open to contributions from donors wishing to channel funds to the Palestinian population in the occupied Palestinian territory, the press release stated.