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GAZA, Jan. 17-- Abdul-Rahim Abu Gouda, a Palestinian living in a small village in the Gaza Strip's southern border town of Rafah, breathed a sigh of relief after two China-funded water desalination plants opened this month in his impoverished al-Naser village. "This is a joyful day for my family and we can now get drinking water instantly and for free. We no longer need to wait for trucks selling filtered drinking water," said Abu Gouda, a father of 12, as he observed his kids filling a small water container from the new plant in front of his home. The 50-year-old farmer said the residents of the village suffered for years from lack of access to clean water. Mohammed al-Attar, 13, came with his playmate to the plant to fill their water tanks. "We are happy to have potable water all the time, with no need to go too far to buy," he said, as he helped his playmate carry a heavy water tank. "Every single day, it took us at least two shekels (0.58 U.S. dollars) to buy the filtered water," said al-Attar, whose family is believed to be the poorest one in the village. "We depend on the aid provided by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and we do not have enough money to buy the water," he added. Before the plants were built, the residents had to pay a large amount of money to buy potable water every year, according to Abu Gouda. "The people in this area are extremely poor and do not have enough money to buy potable water, so they were forced to use salty, unclean tap water provided by the municipality," he said. | 
