SEF Cold Storage Project SUMMARY OF PROJECT INFORMATION    Project Name	   West Bank & Gaza    - Cold Storage   Region 	Middle East   Sector	Food Industry   Project No	008618	   Projected Board Date	December 15, 1997   Company Name	Arab Palestinian Storage Company   Technical Partner and/or Major Shareholders    The Arab Palestinian Investment Company Ltd. (APIC) is a public shareholding company with an authorized capital of US$100 million and a paid-up capital of US$25 million.  APIC is owned by a group of prominent Palestinian businessmen with extensive experience in Jordan and the Arab Gulf.      Project Cost Including Proposed IFC Investment    	A loan of US$0.8 million and US$0.2 million in equity.  The total project cost is US$4.85 million.    Location of Project and Description of Site    	The project is in the city of Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip.    Description of Company and Purpose of Project    In the West Bank and Gaza, vegetables and fruits are produced in relatively large quantities which exceed local consumption.  At the same time, local production of meat, poultry and fish are insufficient requiring imports from Israel.  Therefore, proper storage methods are much needed to preserve perishable food products.  The project is to establish a cold storage facility with a total area of 3,800 m2 and a capacity to store about 4,900 tons of food products.  The method of storage includes both freezing and chilling at adequate temperature levels to preserve the products for long periods of time.  The project would also involve trading in fruits and vegetables, mainly for resale in the off-season.    Environmental Category and Issues    	This is an environmental review category B project.  Environmental, occupational health, and safety issues include:  site selection, acquisition, and construction; solid and liquid waste handling; ambient noise; refrigerants used in freezing and chilling systems; hazardous materials handling and storage; fire prevention and emergency response; and workplace health and safety, including training.    The sponsor has presented plans to address these issues and demonstrate that the proposed project will comply with Palestinian laws and regulations and applicable World Bank requirements.  The information about how these potential impacts are addressed by the sponsor is summarized in the paragraphs that follow.    The site, which historically had been used as farm land, was acquired by the sponsor from the original land owner in a market-valued cash transaction earlier this year.  There were no residences on the site; nor are there any within the immediate vicinity.  The site is surrounded by farm land and other newly created parcels of land scheduled to be developed for other industrial or commercial use.  The sponsor has inspected the site and confirms that there is no soil or groundwater contamination from past site uses. The ERS is available from the InfoShop.     Date SPI sent to PIC November 13, 1997    For Additional Information contact:	Corporate Relations Unit -   Telephone:	(202) 473-7711   Facsimile:	(202) 974-4384     Environmental documents for this project are available at http://www.ifc.org and from the World Bank InfoShop (http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/aboutinfo.html).