Speaking Friday on Radio Express FM about the recent water shortages in many parts of the country, Mohamed Ben Salem, Minister of Agriculture, recognized the responsibility of the Tunisian water distribution facility (SONEDE) whose equipment has been operating, according to him, for years at full speed without taken safety margins.

He deplored, particularly, the delay in the construction of the fresh water storage dam (26 million m3) which should have been completed in 2011 and whose feasibility studies are not yet finalized.

The minister announced that his department has found funding for this facility whose construction works can start only after these studies. Meanwhile, he said his department has taken every precaution to ensure that water cuts will no longer be repeated and that the final solutions to these cuts will be ready within at least two years.