success story

Now that rehabilitation of the Arrabeh Intersection – Ya’bad Road in the northern West Bank governorate of Jenin is complete, ordinary farmers are feeling its impact. Saleh Ba’jawi has been a farmer in the area for approximately 45 years. As he works the land in the green landscape, he comments on the road rehabilitated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), saying, “This is beautiful. Now farmers like me can transport our produce to other communities.” He adds with enthusiastic smile: “Look, I am growing wheat, onions and all sorts of vegetables, and I can transport the produce with great ease.”

The sense of excitement expressed by Ba’jawi is not limited to ordinary farmers. Walid Al-Abbadi, Mayor of Ya’bad, a town next to the fields where Ba’jawi works, said the road was important because it was the main entrance to his community and 15 other villages—of approximately 35 thousand Palestinians—who are now linked with Nablus and Jenin; much larger communities and commercial hubs in the West Bank. Abbadi described the old road as “narrow, with potholes, and if a car broke down the entire traffic would come to a standstill.”

With three fully-automated oil presses in Ya’bad, the economy is getting a boost due to better transportation in the area, and the Municipality is now planning an industrial zone near the new road, encouraged by the easy access between Ya’bad and neighboring towns and villages.

The same sense of optimism is shared by the nearby community of Arrabeh’s 10,000 residents. Abed Al-‘Arda, Mayor of Arrabeh, says, “We wanted to market our produce but the trucks would not come here. We have tremendous potential because we are 40,000 people in Arrabeh.” Given the little employment opportunities available, the community relies economically on the income its residents earn from their work as civil servants in the Palestinian Authority, or as teachers and health workers in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), while the rest of the community are mainly farmers. During winter, the community would suffer because the old road was in such a bad shape. Conditions were particularly difficult for university students who attend classes in Jenin or Nablus, and who suffered repeated delays on the road.

The Arrabeh Intersection – Ya’bad Road was planned in coordination with the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing in order to facilitate economic activity, ease the mobility of ordinary Palestinians and improve living conditions. The new road is 6.3 kilometers long. It has two lanes and is 11.2 meters wide. Rehabilitation works consisted of excavations, construction of pavement layers (base course), asphalting, and road finishing and guard rail. Most importantly, it links with the main Nablus-Jenin road, which was rehabilitated under a previous USAID project to link the two major cities in the northern West Bank, thus expanding the road network available to Palestinians.

The new road is part of the Infrastructure Needs Program, a five-year, $ 300 million project that reflects the commitment by the American people to help Palestinians build the foundation for a future Palestinian state. The deteriorating condition of infrastructure in the West Bank is putting a strain on the living conditions of ordinary Palestinians. USAID’s leadership to construct or rehabilitate new projects will improve the quality of Palestinian infrastructure and contribute to improved living conditions and a stronger Palestinian economy. First year funding stood at $ 80 million, of which $ 64.5 million was used to construct roads, schools, and water system projects in the West Bank, in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority.