GCC electricity and water undersecretaries meet

Undersecretary of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Electricity and Water Ahmad Al-Jassar said Tuesday that the GCC water linkage project aims to rationalize strategic water reserves and diversify fresh water resources as well as reducing the installed capacity in desalination plants in all Gulf states under normal operating conditions.This will lead to the provision of water to the national networks in case of suspension of desalination plants, Al-Jassar said in his speech at the opening of an extraordinary meeting of GCC water and electricityundersecretaries meeting here.Al-Jassar was quoted by Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) as saying that the meeting comes in implementation of the directives of the GCC leaders on the water linkage project between their states.He added that the meeting is being held at a critical timing as the subject of water scarcity cast a shadow over parts of the world and the GCC in particular, adding that many of the scientists and the competent international bodies believe that the scarcity of water will be one of the biggest problems facing humanity in this century.He said that the GCC states dependency on the desalination plants as a single source for fresh water is shrouded by many risks, noting that this vital source may be exposed to an emergency pollution incident which would lead to the disruption of many desalination plants and to a severe shortage of water consumed, thus, affecting the water security of the Member States.