Cyprus considers importing water from Lebanon

Cyprus is looking into the possibility of transferring water from Lebanon, either by ships or via a pipeline, Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment Nikos Kougialis said Thursday after a meeting in Nicosia with the Minister of Energy and Water Gebran Bassil.

Kougialis said their discussion focused on the issues of water resources and in particular a proposal to transfer water from the neighboring country to Cyprus.

The Minister said that a joint technical committee composed of technocrats from the Water Development Department and the corresponding department of the Ministry of Energy and Water of Lebanon has been set up aiming at looking into this possibility within the next period of time.

“If we succeed in bringing water from Lebanon to Cyprus this will be very beneficial for us", he added.

He also expressed the need to reduce the production cost of water in order to further develop agriculture and make it more competitive.

Kougialis said that there are two ways which are currently being considered to transfer water, one is by ship, which is something that was done in the past when water was transferred from Greece, and the other via a pipeline.

The committee will investigate which one is the most cost-effective method, he concluded.