AMMAN -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday voiced support for the Kingdom's planned Red Sea desalination project, which will produce around 100 million cubic metres (mcm) of drinking water.
In a letter sent to His Majesty King Abdullah and conveyed by Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, Abbas expressed his appreciation for the King's stances in supporting the Palestinian cause, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
During a meeting with Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, Hamdallah highlighted the importance of the Jordanian role in protecting holy sites in Jerusalem, particularly Al Aqsa Mosque, which is subject to frequent attacks.
Ensour stressed the "deep" relations between Jordanians and Palestinians and the centrality of the Palestinian issue to the entire region.
Discussions during the meeting covered issues related to water as well as political and economic cooperation, with the two sides agreeing to hold the Higher Jordanian-Palestinian Joint Committee's meeting in the next few weeks.
The meetings, to be held in Palestine, will provide a platform for tackling issues of mutual concern, according to Petra.
In August, the Cabinet approved a recommendation by its Economic Development Committee to prepare studies and tender documents for the first phase of the Red Sea water desalination project.
In previous remarks, Ensour said this project, the largest undertaken since King Abdullah's accession to the Throne in 1999, is expected to cost around $1 billion and represents a permanent source that will address the water shortage in the Kingdom, which increases by 7 per cent annually.
The ministry plans to float a tender to implement the project, which entails a conveyor to transfer seawater from the Red Sea, a desalination plant to be established in Wadi Araba and another pipeline to be built from the plant to the Dead Sea to discharge the brine, which will help save the sea from shrinking, according to Water Minister Hazem Nasser.
The project will help provide a solution to two of Jordan's most pressing concerns: reviving the shrinking Dead Sea and providing clean water to an expanding population, he said in August.
The plant will have the capacity to desalinate 200mcm of water and generate 400-500 job opportunities, Nasser added, noting that the venture is expected to cost $980 million, Nasser said, adding that the government will secure $300-$400 million in grants.
© Jordan Times 2013
