Article authors:
Reuters
Ahmed Elumami and Ayman Al -Warfali
TRIPOLI / BENGHAZI — Haithamal-Ghoul jumped into the street with five people when power was cut off in Benghazi, Libya last week-a child One-year-old son Ousman to find a place to connect the respiratory organs needed to relieve an asthma attack.
The picture of a ghoul hugging an Ottoman on the street, connecting a respirator to a store's dedicated generator, quickly became a hot topic on Libya's social media network. This symbolizes the power crisis that has infuriated the Libyan people beyond political divisions.
"Benghazi suffers from power outages. I'm just one of them in many cases," Ghoul said.
On Friday, protests against the government broke out on almost every aspect of Libya's turbulent conflict.
In Tripoli, hundreds of people demonstrated at the Martyrs Square. This was the biggest such protest in a few years. Meanwhile, in Tobruk, people raided the Capitol and set fire to some of it.
Protests have also taken place on other issues, but the main demonstrations have been summoned over the power crisis and how such frustration escalate in the volatile political situation in Libya. showed that.
The power sector has long been working on maintenance issues, war damage, equipment theft, corruption, and more recently the blockade of oil facilities by the Eastern faction, which cut off fuel supplies to some power plants. I did.
State utility GECOL is working with foreign contractors to get three more power plants up and running this summer, but work will be slower than promised. I am. Even outside the main building of GECOL in the center of Tripoli, a large yellow generator stands to keep the office running in the event of a power outage.
When the entire neighborhood of Tripoli plunges into the dark on a hot summer night, the roar of a private power generator drowns out most of the other sounds as it exhales stimulating smoke from a diesel engine.
Even those who can afford a generator can find it difficult and expensive to buy fuel and can queue for hours at a time. Machines often break, and piles of old ones are often found outside many workshops that have stood up to repair them.
Power outages can last for more than 24 hours, often with internet access unavailable throughout the district, affecting almost every aspect of life. increase.
CUTS
When a Four Seasons restaurant in Tripoli, unrelated to the hotel chain, decides to offer free generator-powered workspaces to students studying for exams. , A young man clasping a book bag or laptop.
"The generator needs regular maintenance and I'm always afraid that it might be stolen," said Ayamak Sharif, an engineering professor who took his 11-year-old son Alzarok to a restaurant. Told. About his math.
"When the electricity goes out, it feels like everything else has stopped," she said.
At another table in the restaurant, political student Dibaj Trabelsi can only get electricity for two hours a day at his home in the Sara Aldin district, making it impossible to study in hot summer weather. Said that.
"It affects my education," she said.
Since Friday's protest, Libyan rival factions have blamed each other for the ultimate responsibility for the crisis and have promised to work to improve the situation.
"They promise us electricity every year, and nothing," said Hussambin Zaytoun, owner of the Four Seasons restaurant.
(Additional report by Ayman al-Warfali, written by Angus McDowall, edited by William Maclean)