JERUSALEM, March 13, 2012 (WAFA) - French Prime Minister François Fillon said his country has allocated €10 million to fund a project of a desalination unit in the Gaza strip, said a statement released on Tuesday by the General French Consulate.

Fillon made the announcement at the opening of the 6th World Water Forum held Monday in Marseilles and in the presence of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

This project is the first to have been given the approval from the Union for the Mediterranean in 2011.

“The desalination unit project was perfectly illustrating the approach consisting in creating solidarities between countries along the banks of the Mediterranean,” said Fillon, adding that “the Mediterranean of peace will probably be built up around sun and water.”

The statement said the project of a desalination unit in Gaza aims to answer the current and future needs of drinking water in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of 1.6 million and where only 5% of the water is suitable for consumption.

“This project should also allow the restoration of the coastal aquifer, in coherence with the strategic objective of the Union for the Mediterranean of getting rid of pollution in the Mediterranean. This project will also provide job opportunities to the population of Gaza,” added the statement.

R.Q./M.S.