Inspired by Blue Gold Booklet

١١٧٧ جمعية ملتقى التأثير المدني

Blue Gold

Executive summary

Inspired by “Blue Gold” Booklet

1- Why Blue Gold Project?

Lebanon has a strategic water wealth which is the richest in the Middle East and the Arab world. However, Lebanon is located in an area threatened by desertification from Iran to Cyprus, thus the importance of:

a-Protecting Lebanon water wealth and invest it in an effective and transparent manner as it is an important element of Lebanon’s strategic security.

b-Managing Lebanon water wealth in its strategic dimensionas provided by in the international law andpreventing the waste of water thatmay lead to huge loses.

c-Benefiting from Lebanon water wealth so as to serve the Lebanese citizens, who will be partners in this project, and enhancing the cooperation between the public and private sectors.

2- What is the Blue Gold Project?

Blue gold is a national 5-year projectoptimizing the Lebanese Government water strategy. It isbased on an analysis of all the studies done on the water sector launching a new vision that transforms water from a simple commodity to a national wealth, and at the same timeaims at fixing weaknesses therein and monitoring projects and initiatives that fall within the strategy with the partnership of the Lebanese citizens.

3 - What is the importance of the Blue Gold project?

a-The cost of the Lebanese government's water plan for (2012 / 2020) amountsto 7.3 billion Dollars. This plan isfunded by the government and through loans and after eight years, it will only guarantee balance between supply and demand.

b-The cost of Blue Gold Project for (2015 / 2020) is equal to 5 billion dollars. This project will guarantee a surplus of 500 million square meters for Lebanon. It is funded by the private sector with controls that prevent monopoly and encourage the contribution of citizens as partners, provided that the water remains the property of the Lebanese State. This project will also ensure a return of 23.5% for the Lebanese State and 12.5% for the private sector.

Blue Gold Project will reduce the annual water bill paid by citizens from USD 700 to USD 380. It only needs 16 dams instead of 44, and will provide 3,000 job opportunities.

4 - How can we help with the execution of Blue Gold Project?

We can help by:

a-Establishinga National Water Council that can operate independently and effectively.

b-Launching the work of the commission established by the Council of Ministers for the purpose of studying the law on water issued in November 2012.

c-Cooperating with the Parliament’s Public Works, Water andEnergy Committee in order to discuss and adopt Blue Gold Project.

d-Establishinga watch dog to monitor the implementation of the projects.

e-Getting the signature of one million Lebanese citizens on the Blue Gold Project as part of an integrated advertising and media campaign.