Palestine voices support for Red-Dead project

DEAD SEA — Head of the Palestinian Water Authority Mazen Ghunaim on Sunday said that achieving water security is a prerequisite for the development and prosperity of any country, voicing his country’s support for the implementation of the Red-Dead project.

Speaking at the Fourth Arab Water Week, Ghunaim called for accelerating the implementation of the Red-Dead project to save the Dead Sea from further diminishing and to sustain investments relying on the Dead Sea.

“We reassure that Palestine is committed towards pressing ahead with the Red Dead project until it is fully implemented… we remain involved in ongoing hectic negotiations with Israel based on the memorandum of understanding which was signed in December 2013 in Washington,” the Palestinian minister said.

The project’s three stakeholders — Jordan, Israel and Palestine — signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in December 2013 to implement the first phase of the Red-Dead project.

Minister of Water and Irrigation Hazem Nasser stressed at the time that the project is a purely Jordanian scheme, which will be built on Jordanian soil and run by the Jordanian government.

The Red-Dead project will also protect the Dead Sea, a global historical legacy and a vital religious symbol, Nasser said, noting that the salty lake in the lowest point on Earth is continuously shrinking.

Palestine will receive 30mcm of freshwater to cover its water deficit, according to the MoU, while Israel will buy its share of 50mcm of desalinated water from the project at cost value and sell Jordan the same amount of water in the northern Jordan Valley at a cost of JD0.27 per cubic metre.

Ghunaim expressed his country’s appreciation of Jordan for “supporting the water sector in Palestine in general and for making sure Palestine guarantees its water rights under the Red Dead project in particular”.