Protests Could Lead to Blackouts in Various Libyan Cities

Rischio black-out in Libia: alcune cittadine libiche sono a rischio black-out a causa di un blocco delle forniture di carburante. I manifestanti, tra cui un gruppo della minoranza etnica nera dei Tibu chiedono maggiori diritti politici e scopo della loro protesta è quello di bloccare le forniture di benzina dell'impianto di Sarir, il più grande nella Libia sudorientale.

LANA has quoted the plant manager Hashim Malik saying, that unless the protestors end the road blockade to let badly needed petrol through, within the next 48 hours, the operations at the plant could be halted. As a result, he said that this would plunge many cities in Libya into total darkness.

Due to labour protests and maintenance work, another state power company has shut down its plant in western Libya. According to the news agency, the firm running the plant has put the blame on "irresponsible action" by strikers.

In southwestern Wafa, another minority group, the Amazigh, has stopped shipment of gas supplies from the field for weeks, but one of its leaders said that in order to meet government demands the blockage would be lifted soon thus easing the power outages.

Power failures have worsened in the past few days as temperatures fell to lows of around 12 degrees C and household demand for heat kept rising. As a result, the Libyan capital, Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi experienced power failure for a number of hours.

Last week the government said power production had fallen to 4,600 megawatts, less than the summer level of almost 6,000 megawatts, when demand rises for air-conditioning.

Meanwhile, recent strike action, widespread protests at oilfields and ports over higher pay and political rights have halted most exports and dried up state revenues.

Source Tripoli Post