Tunis — A workshop was held on Friday by Tunisia's National Sanitation Office (ONAS) on "South-South cooperation in the water sanitation sectors" on the fringes of the second environmental investment and employment forum, "Green Ifriqya 2009-'.

Chairing the opening of the workshop Mr. Nadhir Hamada, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, said that "A program is currently undertaking to ensure the transfer and reuse of about 130 million m3 per year of treated wastewater produced in sewage treatment plants of Tunis to promote fodders and grains cultures in an area covering 33 thousand hectares in the governorate of Kairouan, Sousse and Zaghouan" .

This program will help achieve the set target for the coming 5 years for the mobilization of 95% of water resources.

Regarding the sanitation sector, Mr. Hamada evoked Tunisian's policy regarding the sector and the role played by ONAS in this area, reminding that 157 municipalities are now connected to public sewerage network . He added that the overall cost of water degradation is estimated according to the World Bank at 0.6% of the country's GDP.