TENDERS for transporting water from Greece were submitted to the Water Development Department yesterday.
Senior water engineer at the Water Development Department (WDD) Vlassis Partassides told the Mail that he was hopeful that they could review the tenders within the day, or by the end of the week.
Sophocles Aletraris, also of the WDD, has said that the interest in water transport has been great, while Politis speculates that four or five tenders will submit an offer, although Partassides refused to confirm this.
The winner will sign a contract for six months and will supply the island with 50 thousand cubic metres daily.
This means that the island will receive over nine million cubic metres of water via sea transport.
Agriculture Minister Michalis Polinikis said that very soon, “we will be able to talk specifics as to when the water will arrive from Greece.
“We aim is to bring water by the end of June; however, this is not a commitment but a goal.”
Transporting water is not an easy logistical matter.
Infrastructure is the greatest concern, since none of Cyprus’ ports have the necessary infrastructure either to receive the water or to transport it to its destination.
Speaking to the Mail last month, Gerasimos Caramondanis, Managing Director of Caramondani Bros. which runs the Dhekelia desalination plant, did not think that the water transport plans could materialise in time for the summer.
“This is because of two interconnected reasons,” he attested.
“The first is the lack of infrastructure in the countries involved and the second are the difficulties involved in setting up a series of ships which will be traversing between the two points.
“This second reason is dependent upon factors such as the size of the ships and the distance between the loading and unloading points, as well as the facilities for water storage at our ports, which, of course, goes back to infrastructure concerns.”
Partassides said that, “four ships would be needed to be ensure that the island would get 50,000 cubic metres everyday, and would reload in Elefsina.”
Cyprus’ drinking water needs reach 65 million cubic metres per year, and the desalination plants are currently bearing the brunt of supplying this amount.
Speaking to CyBC radio, Nicos Christofides of the WDD said that his department “had suggested water cuts since January 2007. Had our advice been heeded, then water would not need to be cut three times a week as it is now.”
Responding to questions as to why the WDD’s technocrats did not speak out, Christofides wondered whether anybody could “name a single civil servant who has spoken out publicly against his superior, director or Minister?”
“This is not to say that there are no moral responsibilities as to the current situation,” he added.
Christofides spoke about the advisory role of the WDD: “the Department conducts studies, drafts reports and makes suggestions. Thereafter, for better or for worse, water policy is not conducted by the department but by politicians.”
He concluded by saying that the creation of an independent unified body was essential if water policy were to be wrested from the hands of the politicians.
