Kuwait's water ministry has established an ad hoc committee to review the Kuwaiti purchase of water from neighboring Iran, reported the official Kuwait news agency (KUNA) on Monday.
"After a cabinet meeting Sunday night, an investigating committee is to be set up. It is to be headed by Kuwaiti minister of water and electricity and composed of foreign ministry officials," Water Minister Talal Al Ayar said.
He added that the 540-kilometer pipeline with a diameter of 1.4 meters is to be stretched from Karkheh Dam in western Iran to a region in southern Kuwait.
“330 kilometers of the pipeline lies in the Iranian territory,” said the minister, adding that the pipeline that would pump 210 million gallons of potable water to Kuwait every day is estimated to cost 2.5 billion dollars.
The Karkheh dam has a capacity of 7.3 billion cubic meters, and should boost the country's water reserves by 30 percent.
The ministry had earlier approved technical aspects of the project.
An Iranian-British-Kuwaiti consortium is in the running for the project to pump fresh water to Kuwait’s Bubiyan island and to lessen reliance on the Gulf emirate's costly desalination plants.
Britain's Gulf Utilities Co. (GUC) said in February it was close to securing an agreement with Kuwait to build the pipeline, earlier reports said.
The project would offer "significant economic, environmental and conservation benefits to the Kuwaitis," the company said, adding that it would be due for completion in 2005 – Albawaba.com
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