Conference on Lake Chad: Water Transfer Is Not an Option, It Is a Necessity

FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Conference on Lake Chad: Water Transfer Is Not an Option, It Is a Necessity

March 1, 2018 (EIRNS)—The official outcome of the Feb. 26-28 International Conference on Lake Chad in Abuja, Nigeria is an unequivocal statement of support for the Transaqua project, calling for the transfer of water from the Congo River basin to Lake Chad. It clearly states:

There is no solution to the shrinking of Lake Chad that does not involve recharging the lake by transfer of water from outside the Lake Chad Basin.

That inter-basin water transfer is not an option, but a necessity.

The Transaqua project, which would take water from the right tributary of River Congo, conveying the water 2,400 km through a canal to the Chari River, is the preferred feasible option.

Furthermore, it was officially announced by Italian Ambassador to Nigeria Stefano Pontesilli, during the High-Level Session of Presidents of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, that Italy will contribute €1.5 million for the feasibility study of the Transaqua project, declaring that Italy was ready to partner with the proposed “Transaqua project” to see the success of the water transfer. The feasibility study is planned to be carried out by the Italian engineering firm Bonifica and construction company PowerChina.