A cabinet meeting devoted to the examination of the axes and objectives of the plan to fight against water stress, chaired by Prime Minister Najla Bouden Ben Romdhane, on Friday morning, at the Government Palace in Kasbah, decided to create a crisis unit whose task is to monitor the implementation of all measures and works carried out periodically in this field.
This plan focuses on the current situation of water resources and the main mechanisms for combating water shortages and their repercussions on supply systems and the agricultural production sector.
It aims to prioritise the regular supply of drinking water through a number of measures that contribute to the rationalisation of water use, in cooperation between the different central and regional structures involved.
The plan also aims to support the National Water Distribution Utility (SONEDE) programmes, particularly those related to hydraulic works that will soon be in operation.
The meeting also discussed the situation of hydraulic systems in all regions of the country and their sources of supply, particularly at the level of dams. In the same framework, the ministers reviewed a series of recommendations to address water stress and its impact on the supply of drinking water and irrigation.
These include setting up a water supply plan in rural areas, resolving the problems linked to the implementation of projects and reactivation of systems that have broken down.
The plan also includes the examination of the action plan in the field of irrigation systems and the exploitation of wastewater, mainly through the facilitation of procedures related to the valorisation of wastewater, the recourse to non-conventional systems, in particular the desalination of deep salted water and seawater, and the exploitation of treated water in well-defined areas.
The plan also includes the implementation of a communication strategy aimed at raising awareness of the rationalisation of water consumption, especially in the large consumer sectors, and the establishment of periodic cabinet meetings to monitor the progress of the strategy to combat water stress.
In a statement to the national press, at the end of the Cabinet meeting, Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, Abdel Monêem BelaSti, stressed the importance of this issue and the scope of monitoring the strategy to fight against water stress at a time when the country is concerned about ensuring the resistance of the agricultural sector with all its various sectors and products to this difficult natural situation.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse