Brussels, 24/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The desalinisation plant project in Gaza, which has the support of the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean), was the subject of a meeting in Ramallah last week, under the aegis of the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, who repeated the appeal already made to the Arab countries and other donors to make a contribution to the funding of the project.
Although it is located in Gaza, which is dominated by the Hamas movement which is not recognised by the EU, the project was agreed upon (in June 2011) on the basis of its social impact on the population, with the assurance that it will be under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority. Islamic funds have been proposed to cover half of its funding. The deputy secretary general of the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean), Dr. Rafiq Husseini (Palestine), presented the meeting with a detailed report on the state of progress with the project, which aims to create the capacity to treat 100 million m3 of seawater and a distribution system to cover the whole of the Gaza Strip, benefiting 1.6 million inhabitants. (FB/transl.fl)