Rubble brings opportunity, and risk, in war-scarred Gaza
ABC News
The Gaza Strip has few jobs, little electricity and almost no natural resources
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- The Gaza Strip has few jobs, little electricity and almost no natural resources. But after four bruising wars with Israel in just over a decade, it has lots of rubble.
Local businesses are now finding ways to cash in on the chunks of smashed concrete, bricks and debris left behind by years of conflict. In a territory suffering from a chronic shortage of construction materials, a bustling recycling industry has sprouted up, providing income to a lucky few but raising concerns that the refurbished rubble is substandard and unsafe.
“It’s a lucrative business,” said Naji Sarhan, deputy housing minister in the territory’s Hamas-led government. The challenge, he said, is regulating the use of recycled rubble in construction.
“We are trying to control and correct the misuse of these materials,” he said.
