UN: ‘Enough rubble in Gaza to build 13 Giza pyramids’

Milan, 14 October (LaPresse/AP) – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says that the amount of rubble in Gaza would be enough to fill New York’s Central Park with a 12-metre-high layer or build 13 giant pyramids in Giza, Egypt. Jaco Cillers, special representative of the UNDP administrator for a programme to aid Palestinians, says that according to the latest joint estimates by the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank, $70 billion will be needed to rebuild Gaza. This figure was calculated in September and is higher than the $53 billion estimated in February. ‘The estimated damage and rubble throughout Gaza amounts to about 55 million tonnes,’ he said, ‘another way to describe it, besides the Central Park example I mentioned, is that it is also equivalent to 13 pyramids of Giza.’ ‘That is the scale and scope of the challenge,’ Cillers added during a United Nations press conference in Geneva, via videoconference from Jerusalem. He also said that $20 billion will be needed over the next three years, with the rest needed over a longer period, possibly decades. Cillers highlighted the ‘good signs’ coming from potential donors, such as those in the Arab world, Europe and the United States, without specifying further details.