On Monday, the Deputy Head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mousa Al-Koni proposed the formation of a joint committee with neighbouring countries on the optimal use and management of shared lakes, such as the Ghadames basin, with Algeria and Tunisia.
Al-Koni’s remarks came at the United Nations Water Conference, which was held in New York on managing water resources.
He stated that “Libya suffers greatly not from water scarcity, but rather from a total lack of water.”
Under the former regime, Libya had found solutions by digging in the desert, in an attempt to transfer underground water to the country’s north. “While the government built a network to provide water that stretched over thousands of kilometers, this did not solve Libya’s problems,” he claimed.
Al-Koni added that “this artificial river should rely on seawater instead of aquifer water,” he explained, highlighting desalination as the solution for Libya, the region, and the world.
“I don’t know why we are looking for water on Mars, or opt for more costly and more difficult solutions when we can easily desalinate sea water,” he observed. “There is only one solution to this water crisis: establishing international research centers that specialize in water desalination and energy generation from that process.”
With the risks of conflict increasing every day, the Libyan official urged the international community to address root causes. For Libya and others in the region, the total absence of water has caused immense suffering and posed an extremely serious threat.
“This is a tragedy that we have been living through daily — people are dying of thirst,” Al-Koni underscored, emphasizing that “short-term economic or technical solutions will not solve the problem.”
“Developed countries must seriously consider using their know-how and technological capacities in desalination to provide assistance, especially since the planet contains enough water for all,” he concluded.
