A delegation from the French company, SIDEM, arrived Monday in Tobruk desalination plant and met with the crisis committee tasked to resolve the drinking water issues.

The crisis committee includes Tobruk mayor, Al-Naji Maziq, the Director of the desalination plant, Fathallah Al-Naas, and the Chairman of the Water and Sewage Company, Tariq Al-Safi.

The head of the media office and public relations at Tobruk municipality, Saleh Mayouf, explained that the French company is the construction company that built the plant in 2000, pointing out that it had sent the delegation after calls from elders, activist and citizens to save Tobruk from a possible catastrophe due to the shortage of water and the inefficiency of the old plant.

“The crisis committee asked the French firm to speed up the process of presenting its offers for the municipality so that it proves its good intentions, as there is a competing firm – Wabag from Austria – that wants to add a fourth water evaporator to the desalination plant to enhance water production.” Mayouf remarked.

The Tobruk desalination plant has suffered from repetitive shutdowns over the last couple of years due to the additional demand on water and lack of fixed alternatives to the plant, not to mention the absence of service or renovation works.

Tobruk depends on desalinated water, as its groundwater is saline.