Palestinian Minister: Obstructing "Rawabi" project is obstructing Palestinian statehood

Palestine Note
Palestinian Minister of the Economy warns of broader implications in preventing the construction of a city.
The project of building the city of "Rawabi" is a real opportunity to absorb the Palestinian workers employed in the settlements, said Palestinian economy Minister Dr. Hassan Abu Libdeh, calling the Israeli statements about the project as flimsy excuses to stop the building expansion of Palestine.
Abu Libdeh said that “the project could provide thousands of jobs for workers in the construction sector, which would reduce the reliance on settlements-employment and economy, Al Quds Palestinian newspaper reported Saturday.
Such a project will provide between 8 thousand and 10 thousand jobs during the stages of the city construction and about 3 thousand jobs in the same city after the end of construction, which will contribute to reviving the Palestinian economy, Abu Libdeh added. Expressing his belief that create alternatives to Palestinian workers employed in Israeli settlements would be possible through similar projects, especially that the city is based on the principle of support of national industries, particularly construction, and a commitment to giving priority to national companies in the procurement processes.
Abu Libdeh denounced Israeli Environment Minister Gilad Erdan’s last remarks regarding to the city of Rawabi, and described as "flimsy excuses aimed to stop the urbanization expansion of Palestine, and to thwart a Palestinian national project with great economic importance and to damage the national economy." Israel seeks, through such flimsy arguments, to weaken our national economy, and we consider any obstruction to such a project is aimed to block the establishing an independent Palestinian state, he added.
The Israeli Environment Minister has vowed that he will close the roads leading to the city of Rawabi "If it did not comply with environmental standards," said: "I do not like the establishment of this city, it was a mistake to allow them to do it '.
Rawabi city is located north of Ramallah, where it occupies a mountainous area of 6300 acres, and is supposed to provide housing for about 40 thousand people. The total cost to implement the project of the city is more than $ 700 million, financed by the Qatari Diar company, while the implementation will be by the Palestinian real estate company Betty.