By Michel Cousins.
Tripoli, 15 August 2013:
A new deepwater seaport is to be built at Zliten at an expected cost of several . . .[restrict]hundred million dinars to service the town’s development, despite being just 50 kilometres west of Misrata and 40 kilometres east of Khoms. They are two of the country’s best deepwater ports.
The Minister of Communications and Transport, Abdul Qader Mohammed Ahmed, agreed to the project following a formal request at the end of July from Zliten Local Council.
Discussions with the ministry have, in fact, been ongoing for some considerable time. The Deputy Minister of Transport, Farid Gheblawi, who is in charge of ports, told the Libya Herald in June of Zliten’s hopes and said that a study would be commissioned to determine the site.
This, according to the Libyan news agency LANA, has now been awarded, although no details have emerged other than the fact that the study is wanted “urgently”.
The port will have to be built using private investment. According to LANA, no finance will be provided by the Libyan government.
Municipal pride and rivalry are seen as playing a significant role in Zlitan’s decision to request a major port of its own. A shipping agent today told the Libya Herald that clients there were willing to accept the import of heavy trucks by air, despite the costs, but would not permit them to be shipped in via any seaport in the country.
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