Arab European board to dig 1000 wells in Drfur
April 25, 2008 (RIYAD) — An Arab European board launched an initiative to drill one thousand wells in the arid Sudan’s Darfur region to ease tensions among communities living there, and strengthen efforts to restore peace in Darfur.
Head of the board of trustees of the Arab European Conference on Environment, Saleh Mohamed Al-Muzaini, announced Thursday that the board launched an initiative titled “Thousand wells for Darfur” in cooperation with geologist Farouk El-Baz, director of Boston University’s Center for Remote Sensing.
Scientists have discovered the underground remnants of an ancient lake in Sudan’s arid Darfur region, offering hope of tapping a precious resource and easing water scarcity, which experts say is the root of much of the unrest in the region.
“Much of the unrest in Darfur and the misery is due to water shortages,” said in July 2007the Egyptian geologist Farouk El-Baz, director of the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing, which led the effort that discovered the massive lake in northern Darfur using radar data from space.
Al-Muzaini said that this initiative launched at the end of the recent Jeddah environmental forum reflects the positive role of the conference along the lines of social responsibility.
He also stressed the ethical duties the environmental experts play in the European Union countries and the Arab world towards various humanitarian crises, pointing out that international geologist Al-Baz proposed the initiative out of a sincere desire to help Darfur.
He added that the world-renowned expert said, at the Jeddah Environmental Forum, that he is ready to exert all effort and provide all technology to help dig for wells in Darfur and to combat sand encroachment and desertification in the Western Sudan in general.
He called Arab and International charity institutions and Kuwait-Based “International Islamic Charitable Organization” to support this humanitarian project to provide the people of Darfur with drinkable water and water for agriculture.
The water reservoir lies underneath a former highland lake whose features are covered by wind-blown sand, researchers said. The ancient lake occupied an area of 11,873 square miles, about the size of Lake Erie, and would have contained approximately 977 square miles of water when full.
(ST)