Lebanese caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad headed to Damascus on Monday for a two-day visit to discuss files mainly related to water resources.
Lebanon and Syria are bound by agreements regarding the Orontes River, which arises in eastern Lebanon, flows to Syria and continues into Türkiye. The flooding of the river last year caused major damage to the agricultural fields in Akkar, northern Lebanon.
In a statement, the Ministry of Energy said Fayyad will hold talks with Syrian Minister of Water Resources Hussein Makhlouf with whom he will co-chair a meeting of the Lebanese-Syrian Joint Committee for the Water Sector, in the presence of Secretary General of the Syrian-Lebanese Supreme Council Nasri Khoury.
The two sides will discuss periodic follow-ups of the mechanisms for implementing the Orontes River and the Nahr al-Kabir (Great River) agreements, and ways to preserve the environment of the shared basins and guarantee sustainable and fair investments.
Fayyad and his Syrian counterpart will also touch on cooperation to limit the flooding of the Nahr al-Kabir on the agricultural plains in Akkar, as well as efforts to face the problems of displacement and future projects related to sanitation and irrigation.
On the sidelines of the visit, Fayyad will meet with Syrian Oil Minister Firas Qaddour and Syrian Minister of Electricity Engineer Ghassan Al-Zamil to discuss issues of common interest, according to the ministry’s statement.
A few weeks ago, Fayyad announced his intention to visit Damascus to follow up on issues related to rivers, pledging to improve the operation of the Al-Bared hydroelectric power plant, and to clean the course of the large river.
He also talked about a $5 million funding from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which will be used to clean the course of the Grand River and increase turbines for the hydroelectric power plant in Nahr al-Bared.
