UN voices concern about unilateral, competing reconstruction initiatives in flood-hit Libya

UN voices concern about unilateral, competing reconstruction initiatives in flood-hit Libya
# 03 October 2023 05:18 (UTC +04:00)

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Libya Abdoulaye Bathily has voiced his concern about the unilateral and competing initiatives from various Libyan actors and institutions on the reconstruction of the flood-hit areas in the North African country, APA reports citing Xinhua.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said in a statement on Monday that Bathily expressed his concern after his Sept. 16 visit to Derna, the city that was hit hardest by the deadly floods.

The UNSMIL warned that such unilateral efforts would deepen the existing divisions and impede reconstruction efforts in the country, and are at odds with the Libyan people's solidarity and national unity in response to the disaster.

The statement underlined the importance of having a unified national mechanism to effectively and efficiently move forward the reconstruction.

The statement also raised the Libyan people's concerns about arbitrary cost estimates and unilateral reconstruction initiatives announced without transparency.

On Sept. 10, Mediterranean storm Daniel triggered the largest and worst floods in Libya for decades. Thousands of people were killed and went missing, while the infrastructure in the flood-hit region was severely damaged.

Shortly after the floods, the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity announced the allocation of 2.5 billion Libya dinars (approximately 510 million U.S. dollars) to rebuild the flood-hit areas, while the eastern-based House of Representatives announced the allocation of 10 billion dinars for the same purpose.

#
#

THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED