Brussels 25/03/2014 (agence Europe) - The recent UNESCO announcement about the EU setting up a desalinisation unit in the Gaza Strip (Palestine) that will cost €10 million caused a certain amount of surprise in both Brussels and Barcelona, the city where the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is based.
Fears were expressed of this unit duplicating similar work carried out by an UfM flagship project for which studies have already been completed whilst waiting for a decision about funding.
With verification being given, the risk of a duplication of work occurring appears to have been ruled out. The project announced by UNESCO is relatively limited in scope and is in fact part of a multiple project consisting of several small local stations, whereas the UfM supervised project is, in the long term, expected to cover the whole of Palestinian territory and not only the Gaza Strip. In an even longer time frame, this project has a regional focus but this goal will be heavily dependent on the political situation in the eastern part of the Mediterranean.
Gulf countries have already announced their intention to cover half of the cost in this major project, through the Islamic Bank. The EIB has also expressed its interest in setting up this seawater desalinisation facility that will have a 100 millions m3 capacity in the long term, together with renewal of the water supply and drinking water distribution system that will provide for 1.6 million people. The EIB will provide expertise in the task of technically defining the project and how it operates, as well as in the management of the funds granted by the international community. A plenary meeting took place at the end of 2012 at the French Consulate General in Jerusalem to set up the coordination that would involve the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. 16 EU member states responded to the invitation, in addition to Norway and the major international organisations (United Nations, OCHA, UNRWA, WHO, World Bank, EIB and the Quartet).
Technical studies have already been planned that will focus on the production of drinking water and water channelling networks, economic and commercial management and the energy chapter linked to this kind of production. The network of small local stations, such as the one promoted by UNICEF and which will be easy to implement, will serve as pilot action in this connection, particularly with regard to facilitating future technical decisions in this area. (FB)