Khaled Osaily. خالد العسيلي رئيس بلدية الخيل السابق خالد العسيلي
Bahera, the engineer, pressed a key to display an aerial picture of the city of Hebron on her computer screen. A flashing light marks the spot, displaying a photo as well as detailed information regarding the selected house and its occupants.
This flashing light appears on many sites in Hebron. It marks ambitious projects and infrastructure elements. My arrival to the Municipality headquarters coincided with a meeting of the Joint Municipal Council in Bethlehem and Hebron Governorates concerning the 20-million-dollar project for a joint landfill and solid waste treatment plant. The land selected for the project is located near Sa’eer and has been salvaged from seizure by nearby settlements. Its price, amounting to 25.1 million dinars, was paid by the Government.
As usual, Hebron Mayor, Mr. Khaled Osaily, repeats the words of Prime Minister Salam Fayad whenever he visits Hebron, perusing various projects and pioneering factories. “Whenever I visit Hebron, I see hope”, he says. The city, famous for its commercial and industrial innovation is undergoing an infrastructure surge. Stadiums, sports and cultural centres, as well as infrastructure projects are sprouting all over town, financed by foreign entities, thanks to Osaily’s efforts. The projected joint solid waste treatment plant will lead to the closure of 17 landfills, preserving the environment over a vast area. It shall also create a state of collaboration between various local councils, relieving tensions between them and causing them to work together for the greater good of society.
Looking at it from the outside, one would not suspect that Hebron Municipality comports major departments constituting what can be called “the Hebron Experience in Municipal Administration”. No more queues, files and paper documents have disappeared: computers are now the main tools. Municipality formalities can now be started and completed through the same “Customer Service” facility, where a civil servant would use his computer to review citizens’ files and forward their claims to competent departments through one unique contact point. The same computerized system is used in Hebron Electricity Company where paperless business is managed using computers and the Internet. The Municipality has started implementing an electronic fee-payment system where each citizen is given a PIN code which they may use to access information about what they have to pay.
This whole experience is a first in the history of Palestinian municipalities and should be praised, commended and spread to other municipalities, ministries and public administrations. This actually saves time and effort, reducing the need for multiple procedures and for seeking favours from dishonest civil servants. This modern method is a major leap from the old overcomplicated administration system.
Hebron, the city that forayed China’s marketplaces, is building itself, by itself, despite the occupation. At Bab Al Zawiya, occupation patrols tried to force shop-owners to close up business so that settlers may go through to visit some location inside the city but traffic went unperturbed and shop-owners ignored occupation loudspeakers.
This is the city that exports capital and capitalists. Stretched over 50 km², it is the West Bank’s biggest. No wonder therefore that it is capable of re-creating itself from within. It used to be described as the city of a thousand millionaires and the computerization of municipal formalities is but a small proof of its creativity, to say nothing of its public projects which have exceeded 100 million dollars in value over a period of just a few years.
There we are, contemplating the new stadium and the closed arena big enough for 4000 spectators, expected to be inaugurated at the end of spring by President Mahmoud Abbas. Such projects are the driving force behind any city’s cultural, sporting and social renaissance. If only all our municipalities could perform with the same panache, but there is only one Osaily. May there be more like him in each and every town.
