Mobile desalination plant project gets the green light

Mobile desalination plants are to be installed in Majorca after the Balearic government, Palma, Calvia and Andratx councils managed to reach an agreement and give the project the green light yesterday - 24 hours after the government had hoped a deal would have been reached. But, the Mayor of Palma, Joan Fageda, although he signed the deal, admitted that he still has some reservations about the project which will significantly ease the water problems in the island's most populated municipalities. The Balearic Environment Minister, Margalida Rossello, was finally able to announce yesterday that the plan will go ahead and the government is to cover the 3.000 million pesetas cost of installing a number of mobile desalination units. 2.000 million pesetas of the figure will come from those councils which purchase water from the plants in set amounts over a period of seven years. The Minister said that the exact number of mobile plants to be installed has yet to be decided because the government is in talks with a number of companies in a bid to ascertain as to how soon the plants can be installed and operational. The Minister hopes that the units, which will be capable of producing 14.800 cubic metres of water per day, will be up and running within a maximum period of three months.