QUESTIONS HAVE been raised over the government’s decision to donate one million dollars to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) for a new medical centre given that the last two clinics pledged by Cyprus were never built.
According to Youli Taki, senior researcher at INDEX Research and Dialogue, two issues are raised by President Demetris Christofias’ announcement made during a visit to the West Bank town of Ramallah earlier this week: “First, have we done the necessary homework on this? Has there been a proper analysis of the needs of the Palestinians? And second, the credibility of the Cyprus Republic is at issue here. Why were the two medical centres pledged in the past not built?”
INDEX is responsible for assessing the effectiveness of aid allocated by the government on behalf of the Non-Governmental Development Organisations (NGDO) Platform in Cyprus.
“We review how Cyprus aid is allocated, its effectiveness and where the money will have the best impact,” said Taki.
The researcher highlighted that various medical reports on the occupied Palestinian Territories reveal that what is required is more health-related infrastructure, human resources, training and pharmaceutical supplies.
On the decision to build a new medical centre, Taki was less sure that this was something implementable.
“There are a lot of technical difficulties in implementing such a structural project,” she said.
Also, it’s not the first time such a decision has been taken.
On December 12, 1997, the then Cypriot ambassador to the United Nations, Sotos Zackheos, announced in a statement to the General Assembly that Cyprus had prepared a special programme of economic assistance to the Palestinian people. This included the training of around one hundred Palestinian officials in Cyprus, follow-up visits by Cypriot experts and the building of two medical centres.
According to Taki, the two medical centres were never built. A memorandum was signed in 2000 which foresaw the establishment of a committee, its terms of reference for the implementation of the project and the tender procedures for giving the contract to a Cypriot firm. “The project did not materialise in the end,” she said, adding that the government needed to ensure that any aid promised is first necessary, and second, implementable.
