Looking for fresh water in the sea

A FRENCH company has offered to explore the seas off Cyprus in an attempt to locate pockets of fresh water, which could be exploited to ease water shortages, the Agriculture Ministry said yesterday.

A ministry official said that the French company had offered to explore for fresh water without any cost to the government.

After discussing the issue at the Cabinet on Thursday, the government decided to give the green light for the project after establishing there were no legal issues.

After the exploration has been carried out, the government will make a decision on whether to exploit any resources, if any are located. The official could not say when the French company would being work.

According to reports, the company, Nymphea, had expressed an interest in exploring off Cyprus since last year and approached the government then. “Now that the legal issues have been sorted, they can begin work,” the official said.

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.