Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati launched on Tuesday the 300-million dollar Litani River project to irrigate land in southern Lebanon.

Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati launched on Tuesday the 300-million dollar Litani River project to irrigate land in southern Lebanon.

Berri said at the launch at the Grand Serail: “Today we are witnessing one of the chapters of Lebanon’s victory against Israel.”

“We thank Kuwait, its emir, and people, as well as the Lebanese government that helped make this project a reality and defeat Israel’s aspirations to exploit Lebanon’s water wealth,” he added.

For his part, Miqati noted: “Its success cannot be achieved without fortifying Lebanon’s stability.”

He added that it was possible through the Lebanese government’s efforts and foreign aid.

“The Litani project will encourage our people to remain in their homeland,” Miqati stated.

He thanked Kuwait for its contributions to the project, congratulating the residents of the South on the achievement.

“Exploiting water wealth is Lebanon’s right and the country is entitled to defend it against foreign aggression,” the premier stressed.

The Litani River project is aimed at irrigating agricultural land in southern Lebanon.

It provides irrigation water to lands that lie 800 meters above sea level, As Safir newspaper reported Monday.

Speaker Berri said earlier this month that the irrigation and hydroelectric project in addition to the implementation of oil exploration decrees would be seen as the culmination of the government’s achievements.

Those two projects will be a source of pride for Miqati’s government after consecutive cabinets since 1943 failed to implement them, he said.

“They will make a development and economic renaissance,” Berri added.