Repeated power cuts in the south of Libya have brought several remote southern cities to a standstill, causing civil unrest and major disruptions to local economic life. In Sabha, the so-called ‘Capital of the South,’ banks and other digital communication simply cease to operate each time  the electricity goes.

Repeated power cuts in the south of Libya have brought several remote southern cities to a standstill, causing civil unrest and major disruptions to local economic life. In Sabha, the so-called ‘Capital of the South,’ banks and other digital communication simply cease to operate each time  the electricity goes. The power shortage is particularly acute in the south – which does not have its own back-up gas generator plant – and is therefore totally dependent on energy from the west of Libya.  The power crisis has been exarcebated by the fact that several local power transmission points have been severely vandalized: one, Wadi Al-Aril, was completely destroyed.

Adam Al-Mabrouk, head of the Media Office at the southern branch of the National Electricity Company, spoke to Correspondents about the current energy crisis and the solutions the company could resort to.

In many official statements, you have spoken about acts of vandalism against power transmission stations in the southern region. What exactly is happening?

Many transmission stations in the south have witnessed systematic vandalism. The objective could not have been theft, because the equipment that was destroyed could not be used in any place outside of a trnsmission station. These vandals destroyed an entire station by shooting bullets at the gas extinguishers in the electricity transmitters! These extinguishers are necessary to reduce the sparks while switching the electricity to the south.

Where did these vandals come from?

The Libyan vandals within the group are southern locals. They moved from one station to the other simply to destroy electricity stations. After completely destroying the Wadi Al-Aril station, they headed towards Zlaf to bring down electricity columns, but the security forces met them there and arrested them. Nine men in the gang were Libyan and the other twenty five came from different African countries.

After their arrest, however, members of their families kidnapped employees from the electricity company who went to Wadi Al-Aril to assess the damage and recover the functioning equipment and spare parts. They then exchanged the technicians for the vandals. The exchange happened in Ashkeda area.

Why did you not seek the help of local people and the city councils to solve the problem?

We did speak to city councils and to the elders, and we held a meeting at the city council in Sabha to solve the problem of the power transmission stations. But no results were reached and the vandalism continued.

The media reported news about meetings held both inside and outside the country, to put the Obari gas power generator to work. When will the Obari generator be functional?

On the ground, there is no real possibility that the ‘Obari’ generator can be put to work. All we hear is mere promises. Some days ago, the local executive minister met the Turkish company assigned to the project, but this meeting was not the first nor will it be the last. These meetings are not bringing about any results on the ground. It is saddening to see that we have representatives in the Parliament, in the Presidential Council and in both of the governments and yet they cannot put to work a power generator that is 90 % complete.

Electricity is a basic necessity in modern day life, and still none of the governments has moved to solve our electricity problem. Last Ramadan, the power was cut for three consecutive days in the entire south and neither government made a move to find out the reason or to ensure energy for local residents. In response, people went out and rioted: they burned tires and closed streets. Only then did the government talk about it. In the end, all we received was promises that have not yet been fulfilled.

How long will the problem last? Have you set a deadline for its resolution? And is it true that you receive orders from the control room in Tripoli about the timing of power cuts?

The problem will never be solved in the absence of a real and a strong government. The one generator in the region needs a concentrated government effort to be put to work. If this does not happen, the south may suffer a general power shut down.

As for the timing of power cuts, the control room is in Tripoli and since we get our electricity from there, they have the control on the power cut timing.

Many people believe that you in the Electricity Company are not meeting your tasks. What are the steps that you could have taken but did not take, to solve the problem?

We, at the Electricity Company, have repeatedly spoken with the consecutive governments about the need to put the Obari generator to work. However, the company does not have a drastic solution, it is after all only a state-owned service company.

At the moment, the local ministry is working on activating the power generator in Obari, but the ministry cannot do it by itself. We are urging everyone in the south – from the heads of city councils to parliament members and other effective figures, to move withthe issue. If they concentrate their efforts, they can activate the Obari generator. However, unfortunately, although the representatives of the south are many in the governments of both the west and the east of Libya, we do not see that any of them cares enough about what is happening in the south.