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dam-l The Solomon pipelines



Another story on the massive Congo pipeline project, this time from the
project developers. Note the unbelievable statement, "Water will be given
free as a humanitarian gesture by the Democratic Republic of Congo
Government" to avert problems in the Middle East....


>Dear sir,
>
>Here is our press release and, will you have other questions, please
>feel free to contact us.
>
>Regards
>
>Jordan L MATHEWS
>Senior project adviser
>

Fort-Worth, Texas, January 21st, 2000.
>>
>Germain SOCOMBE  :  Senior Vice-President &
>CFO
>Jean-Michel :  Executive Vice-President -
>Production
>Leroy BEMENU : Vice-President -Human
>Ressources
>
>WESTRAC    US  representative office
>1805 Somerset Terrace Bedfort, Texas 76022
>Tel.: 817-657-6800
>Fax: 817-545-7922
>E-mail : InReMi@webtv.net
>
>               PRESS   RELEASE
>
>A project to build two pipelines from the Congo River in Democratic
>Republic of Congo - with one going up to  the Middle East (2,000 Km) via
>Port-Sudan, and the other going  down to Southern Africa (1,000 Km) via
>the Delta of Okavango - was initiated last fall by a joint venture
>between Western Trade Corporation (WESTRAC), a Congolese company based
>in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Sapphire Aqua Corporation
>(SAC), a US corporation based in Florida.
>
>This project is known as "THE SOLOMON PIPELINES".
>
>WESTRAC was given the rights by the Congolese Government to build and
>operate the pipelines to deliver the much-needed water to those arid
>regions.
>
>Water will be given free as a humanitarian gesture by the Democratic
>Republic of Congo Government to help alleviate the dangerous political
>tensions in those regions caused by the critical scarcity of water and
>to promote world peace.
>
>As far as the MIddle East is concerned, as we all know, the US
>Administration is mediating the return of the Golan Heights to Syria
>from Israel.
>About 40% of all the water used in Israel comes from the Golan Heights.
>Israel has to find another source of water if Golan Heights has to be
>returned to Syria.
>Its demands have exceeded the sustainable annual yield of its available
>sources since the mid - 1970s.
>Israel and Jordan are high on the list of water- scare nations where the
>potential fo r continued conflict in the Jordan River valley is no
>longer a question.
>
>With no significant rivers and lakes, oil -rich Arab states - Kuwait,
>Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - top the nine
>countries with the least water per capita.
>Many of those countries rely heavily on desalination and non renewable
>groundwater supplies to meet around 75 % of their water needs (World
>Water Council).
>
>As population growth in these regions doubles every two or three decades
>(FAO), renewable water will become increasingly scarce.
>
>Upon its completion, at 25 m3 per second in phase I with production
>increasing to 200 m3 per second as demand dictates, the Solomon
>pipelines will bring a solution , in a very near future, to the
>water-related problems.
>
>The Solomon pipelines project will cost in the billions of dollars and
>will  generate thousands of jobs for local economies (Democratic
>Republic of Congo, Central Africa Republic, Sudan, Angola, Botswana,
>Namibia), as well as huge business opportunities such as electricity and
>communications supplies from the Inga and the Mobayi-Bongo dams, and
>fiber optics along the toll ways that will be positioned along the
>pipelines.
>
>It's planned social and environmental development programs such as the
>building of churches, mosques, hospitals, parks, housing, commercial
>centers and schools will drastically improve the quality of live for the
>Africans.
>
>Other representations
>
>Jean-Lambert SEGBIA : Vice-President - Regional Development / Brussels,
>Belgium.
>
>Cyrille WOMBO, Ing. : Executive Vice-President
>- Civil Engineering / Pretoria, RSA.
>
>Ali ASSANI, Ing. : Technical Director - Fluvial Hydrology / Quebec,
>Canada.
>
>                                 = = / = =
>

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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