Deir Ezzor-SANA
The liberated villages and towns in the northern countryside of Deir ez-Zor are witnessing a state of recovery and an intensive return of their people after the Syrian Arab Army liberated them from terrorism in late 2017, after securing basic supplies and services to restore life to various sectors in these areas.
The deputy head of the Executive Office, Kanaan Abdel Wahab, said in a statement to SANA reporter that since the liberation of the seven villages in its northern countryside, “Khasham, Al-Tabia, Mazloum, Hatla, Marrat, Al-Hussainiya, Al-Salihiya” from terrorism at the hands of the Syrian Arab Army at the end of 2017, an integrated action plan was drawn up. To restore services and rehabilitate what was destroyed by terrorism, it opened the streets and removed the rubble, and then began rehabilitating schools, bakeries, sewage networks, water, electricity and communications, activating police units, government departments and institutions, and providing agricultural production requirements, which contributed to an intensive return of the people whose return turned the wheel of production and the area restored its previous lifestyle.
Abdel Wahab indicated that the number of people returning to their homes and villages in the northern countryside has reached about 75,000 citizens.
In turn, the Director of Electricity in Deir ez-Zor, Eng. Khaled Lutfi, indicated that the villages and towns of the northern countryside were supplied with electricity across the Euphrates River from Hawija Kati’ towards Al-Hussainiya, and the electric current was delivered to each of Al-Husseiniya, Hatla, Marat and Al-Salihiya, all the way to Mazloum, Khasham and Al-Tabiya, explaining that work is underway to expand the scope of the electric supply There is a study to implement a medium line with a length of 6 km to split the base line into two lines in order to reduce the load and replace 20 transformers to a greater capacity.
For his part, the Director of the Public Water Corporation in Deir ez-Zor, Eng. Rabie Al-Ali, indicated that the water stations located in the liberated villages of the northern countryside have been operated, which are 7 stations “Hatla Al-Zawiya, Hatla Al-Ghazl, Marat Al-Jadida, Marat Al-Qadima, Khasham Mazloum, and Al-Hussainiya,” which provide sufficient water for the people In the region, in addition to the maintenance of the main and subsidiary networks and linking the stations to electricity, and work is currently underway to implement 3 integrated projects, namely the project to rehabilitate the Ghazl water station, the project to implement the main water line connecting from the Ghazal station to the Salhia roundabout, and the branch lines project to both Hatla and Al-Hussainiya, with the aim of supporting the system water to meet the increasing needs of drinking water following the return of the people to the area.
For his part, the head of Khasham’s Agriculture Department, Engineer Ammar Mandeel Al-Ali, explained that the wheel of agricultural production turned in the region, and 4 extension units were opened and 9 agricultural irrigation projects were implemented to secure irrigation water and support farmers with seeds, fertilizers and drip irrigation networks, in addition to production grants. Farmers are now working on growing cotton and vegetables and intensive cultivations.
Director of Education Jassem Al-Fraih pointed out that there are 37 schools involved in the educational process, comprising more than 15,000 students from the first grade to the third secondary education, pointing out that 8 schools have been maintained and rehabilitated, and 8 other schools have been identified for rehabilitation within the current year's plan and the provision of educational cadres and textbooks and row seats.
The supervisor of the health centers in the northern countryside, Ammar Al-Sheikh, indicated that six health centers were opened in the region, namely the advanced Al-Hussainiya Health Center, Hatla, Murat, Mazloum, Khasham and Al-Tabiya centers, which work to provide health services such as integrated ambulances and vaccinations for children. These centers have also been provided with health staff, medicines and medical devices. Work is currently underway to equip an advanced health center in Mazloum, which will enter service early next year.
In addition, the Hatla call center was activated after its rehabilitation and the opening of a sales hall for the Syrian trade in Marat, in addition to running mobile cars periodically to secure basic materials distributed through the electronic card to all areas of the northern countryside, and the opening of three gas stations and 12 bakeries.
The councils of administrative units are also working on implementing many projects to rehabilitate sewage, paving roads and solar lighting.
In order to secure the movement of people from the northern rural areas to the city of Deir ez-Zor, the governorate established a floating raft crossing that connects the two banks of the river and transports the people, goods and agricultural crops for free.
A number of citizens praised the services provided by the government that contributed to their stability and their return to work and production, demanding to speed up the repair of one of the bridges linking these villages to the city of Deir ez-Zor to facilitate the process of moving and marketing their crops and products, stressing their adherence to their land and homeland.
