Libyan authorities will investigate why foreign companies did not monitor the condition of dams in the east of the country despite contracts, Khaled Masoud al-Mudir, the justice minister in the parliament-appointed government in the east, said.
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“Regarding the maintenance of the dams. According to our information, <…> several contracts were concluded in 1999, 2007 and 2008, but these works were not successful and were not carried out by the companies supervising the work on their maintenance,” the minister said.
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According to him, due to regime change in Libya and the resulting mass chaos, these companies were unable to complete maintenance work on the dams due to payment problems.
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“The prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into this case to determine those responsible and determine the reasons for the companies’ failure to do their work. The case is being investigated and all legal measures will be taken to identify those responsible,” al-Mudir added.
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On September 10, the powerful cyclone Daniel hit the eastern regions of Libya, which led to an amount of rainfall unprecedented in the last 40 years. The city of Derna, home to 100 thousand people, suffered the most. There, two dams and four bridges were destroyed under the pressure of water.
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According to the local branch of the Red Crescent, the death toll as a result of floods in eastern Libya has exceeded 11 thousand, and about 20 thousand people are missing.
