With the road section almost complete between the villages of Urif and Asira Al Qibliya in the central part of the West Bank, area residents were dancing in the street and singing joyfully, and they had good reason to do so.
While the two villages south of Nablus are only 3.2 kilometers apart, this is the first time that they have ever been connected with a paved road, which is replacing a dilapidated dirt road.
In a community gathering to celebrate the new achievement, Fawzi Shehadeh, Mayor of Urif Village, thanked USAID and the American people for their unique gift.
Shehadeh said that 15,000 Palestinians will benefit from the road. This road section is part of the $5.2 million Bureen-Urif Road Project, linking the villages of Bureen, Madama, Asira Al Quiblyia, Urif.

Previous USAID projects linked Urif to the villages of Hawara and Ein Abous. This Bureen-Urif Road project is one of 17 projects currently being implemented under USAID’s Infrastructure Needs Program, which is scheduled to provide $300 million of infrastructure assistance to the West Bank over the next 5 years.

The program’s first yearfunding of $80 million will go towardsconstructing 7 schools, 42 km of roads, and 2 water systems. All construction work has been subcontracted to Palestinian firms showcasing their capabilities and providing Palestinians with over 110,000 days of employment through the end of 2009.
The area residents of Madama and Bureen are now anxiously awaiting the completion of their section of the 9.1 km Bureen-Urif Road Project in late May 2009, which will connect all the villages to the main regional highway - Road 60 - and increase the number of beneficiaries to 30,000.

Village elders of Bureen recall that this portion of road was last rehabilitated approximately 35 years ago. Palestinians in the area are seeing change and improved living conditions that carry the promise of hope and a new era of commercial activity.
With the Bureen-Urif Road Project completed, famers will be able to transport their produce, livestock, and home-made products to market in neighboring villages. In an area with many stone quarries, trucks and heavy equipment residents will be able to make pickups and deliveries faster , thus stimulating the economy and creating new jobs.

Socially, these communities, which have been long deprived of easy access,, will be able to visit nearby family and friends easily. Most importantly, ambulances and humanitarian relief vehicles will find the new road a great improvement.

In addition to the Bureen-Urif Road Project, the area will also benefit from USAID’s $6.1 million Bureen Water System Project which will supply the village of Bureen with water from the Nablus Municipal water supply and will have the capacity to connect other villages to the system in the future.

This project consist of 3.8 kilometers of new pipeline, a booster station, 22 kilometers of distribution pipeline, and a new 300 cubic meter water reservoir. These projects are the latest evidence of the promise by the American people to help Palestinians improve infrastructure and build a solidfoundation for their future.