Israeli desalination contract may be annulled

THE ISLAND’S legal service was yesterday looking into ways of annulling a tender procedure to build a desalination unit after it transpired that the frontrunner was apparently an Israeli company, which is building a similar unit in the Turkish-occupied north.

Last month, Israel’s Granite Hacarmel Investments, said a consortium led by its subsidiary Global Environmental Solution (GES) had won a tender to build a desalination plant in Episkopi that would desalinate 3.5 million cubic metres of seawater a year.

The same company also announced in February that it had agreed to build a similar unit in Turkish-occupied Famagusta, but despite the various publications, it apparently went unnoticed by authorities here who only found out through recent press reports.

Reports yesterday suggested that the government had asked the Attorney-general to look into ways not to award the tender to the Israelis without any legal repercussions for Cyprus.

It is understood that there is no clause in the tender disqualifying companies that operate in the north.

But there is a clause obligating the bidders to declare previous projects they were involved in.

Reports said GES had failed to disclose that it was also active in the north.

The government has said it has not yet signed any deal with any of the participating companies.

At current prices the government will end up paying 400 million euros to the winning company for the supply of water over 20 years.

The plant in the north is of a smaller capacity and the water will be used for drinking purposes and the irrigation of 21 areas.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.