Research Center: The crisis is worsening in Zliten and government action is weak (video)

Cairo: «Middle East»
Amid increasing fears among residents of Zliten in western Libya about the continued flow of groundwater, a team of foreign experts arrived in the city with the intention of diagnosing the causes of this phenomenon, which has become a “humanitarian and environmental disaster.”

Since the end of last year until now, complaints from the 350,000 residents of Zliten have been mounting about massive groundwater gushing out from under their homes and in many squares in the city, causing damage to hundreds of homes.

The two governments competing for power were keen to prove their interest in the crisis that struck the city, in light of accusations that their actions did not keep pace with the scale of the disaster. But the interim “National Unity” government, headed by Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba, was quick, on Friday, to announce the arrival of a British consulting office team to Zliten and begin its work, considering that this move comes in implementation of Al-Dabaiba’s directives regarding the use of local and international expertise to urgently search for the real causes. Due to the phenomenon of high groundwater levels in a number of areas in Zliten.

On the other hand, the government of eastern Libya, headed by Osama Hammad, announced on Friday the arrival of the first batch of equipment and vehicles specialized in spraying pesticides and withdrawing water to the municipality of Zliten in the west of the country, also considering that this comes in implementation of the instructions of the Prime Minister, to quickly take measures to address the crisis of high water levels. Groundwater in Zliten, after his meeting with members of the city’s House of Representatives.

The head of the Research Center at Asmariya University, Mustafa Al-Bahbah, said that the situation in the city “is still the same; Rather, the crisis is worsening,” and he revealed that some citizens there “have left their homes, the state is absent, and the municipality does not have budgets to house them or support those affected by them.”

Al-Bahbah added in his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that homes are collapsing and buildings are cracking due to groundwater, describing the government’s action as “weak and not up to the scale of the disaster.” He explained that the Hammad government, which is affiliated with the House of Representatives, “allocated 26 million to support Zliten, but nothing has arrived yet,” while “the Tripoli government is seeking to remove the Zliten municipality from any committee related to the disaster.”

Local authorities are working rapidly to remove the water, which has turned many of Zliten’s streets into puddles and swamps. But they quickly gathered, with citizens calling on the government to quickly save their homes, after some of them collapsed from the surface of the earth.

The Public Services Committee of the Supreme Council of State held an extraordinary meeting on Thursday, headed by Muhammad Abu Ghamja, Chairman of the Committee. To discuss the phenomenon of rising water levels, in the presence of the committee formed by the President of the Council in this regard, the technical team formed by the Housing and Utilities Authority, and the municipal crisis committee. The discussion took place, according to the Information Office of the State Council, about this catastrophic phenomenon, its causes, how to address it, and a warning against delaying the executive authority in taking urgent decisions to treat it.

The attendees recommended that an urgent budget be allocated to Zliten to address the crisis and limit its aggravation. So that it does not reflect negatively on the lives of citizens, lead to immeasurable environmental damage, or result in a decline in the standard of buildings.

Hundreds of citizens are complaining about damage to their homes due to the rise in groundwater levels, and they are calling on the authorities in the country to quickly resolve the crisis, before all their homes collapse.

Zliten began receiving delegations from other regions in solidarity with citizens in their plight. A team assigned from Misrata visited the city of Zuwara, calling on the “National Unity” government, ministries and government agencies, as well as relevant institutions and companies, to take the crisis and its repercussions “seriously,” in addition to harnessing the necessary material capabilities to prevent the disaster from occurring.

The Prime Minister-designate of the House of Representatives, Osama Hammad, had previously issued urgent decisions regarding Zliten, including declaring a state of emergency and allocating 10 million dinars to the municipality, as an amount allocated for emergencies. (The dollar is equal to 4.82 dinars in the official market), in addition to a contract to establish a filtration and drainage network in the affected shops, worth 16 million dinars.