The European Union will help save the Dead Sea

The Jordanian plan, which is also supported by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, calls for the flow of 880 million cubic meters of water per year from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The World Bank will finance the feasibility study for the project

 
Jordan's efforts to save the Dead Sea from drying up within 50 years received a boost today, when the European Union promised to look into the possibility of financing the operation.

The sea is facing disaster, as it loses about a meter of its level every year. Jordan, which launched an operation to save the sea two years ago, announced this week that the World Bank is to transfer 10 million dollars for the purpose of testing the feasibility of its plan.

The Union announced that it will start negotiations between its member states with the aim of agreeing on possible funding for the program, the cost of the initial phase of which is estimated at one billion dollars. "We believe that this program will be of great importance for the region and its residents," said Walter Maziti, a senior member of the Union, at a five-day conference that dealt with water issues, in which a thousand experts from 32 Arab and foreign countries participated. "I think that the Union's financial aid will also be significant," said Maziti, chairman of the Union's task force on water issues within the peace process.

The Jordanian Minister of Agriculture, Hazem Nasser, said that if no water is poured into the Dead Sea, it will disappear completely within half a century. The surface of the Dead Sea is currently 412 meters below sea level, compared to 392 meters below sea level, as it was before the sea began to dry up.

"Everyone is worried and we would like to work together to find a way to save the Dead Sea," Nasser told reporters at the end of the conference. According to him, Israel and other countries have been diverting water from the Jordan River for decades, the main source of water for the Dead Sea, thereby drying it up. At the conference, Jordan called on the countries of the region to support the initiative to flow over 880 million cubic meters of water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea every year. Israel and the Palestinian Authority also support the initiative. According to Nasser, meetings are being held between the representatives of the three parties to discuss the issue. "It seems that the world is more convinced than ever of the need to act as quickly as possible to save the Dead Sea environment," Nasser said.

There are 4 responses to this page
23:06 06/06/2004 Sender: P.L. But let there be a wide canal
11:45 07/06/2004 Sender: A.L. to pray the water
14:57 07/06/2004 Sender: M. Homi What is the connection with the Palestinian Authority
12:58 10/06/2004 Sender: G. Chaimovitz Just a question...