Brussels, 13/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) has just launched a call for tender for a technical assistance contract linked to the desalinisation project for Gaza. The call specifies that the project is under the aegis of the Palestinian Authority rather than that of Hamas, which governs that area.
The technical assistance sought aims to prepare the launch of studies and accompany the implementation of the project within the Palestinian Authority. €4 million have been earmarked for this purpose, from European budgetary resources and EIB funds.
The plan features among those presented at the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean), whose secretary general will have the responsibility of securing the required funding by the end of 2013 to set the project in place. Half of the costs will be covered by the EU and the other half will come from a variety of sources, mainly public funds - there has been talk of Islamic funds in particular - as it is unlikely that private investors will take the risk of investing their resources in Gaza. Readers may recall that Gaza airport, which was built with European funds, was destroyed in 2001 during the Israeli offensive. The Commissioner in charge at the time of the construction of the project even put forward the idea of calling on Israel to refund the money spent by the EU. (FB/transl.fl)