By Jamal Adel.
Tripoli, 25 November 2013:
Tebu protestors from Kufra and Reybana demanding an end to what they claim is the marginalization . . .[restrict]of their community have said that they will blockade the road between Kufra and Benghazi if their demands are not met when their deadline for government action expires tomorrow.
They have already threatened to blockade the main Al-Sarir electricity station in southeast Libya if their demands for improvements are not met. These include a proper power supply for Tebu-dominated Reybana and a council in Kufra for the town’s Tebu community, separate to the Arab-controlled main council.
The protests have been continuing for the past four days. The demonstators say that the Electricity Minister, Ali Muhairiq, has agreed to provide Reybana with a generator, but that this is not enough.
“It is only the electricity and energy minister who contacted us, and offered a temporary help, but we’re still looking to the Minister of Local Governbment to step in and make a move,” Tebu activist Hassan Truwai said.
The also want to talk to representatives from the Prime Minister. Last June, Ali Zeidan visited Kufra and promised investment in the town in a bid to heal the deep rift there between the Tebus and the majority Zway community and ensure stability in the south. Offers of infrastructural developments in its run-down, Tebu-dominated districts of Gadarfai and Shura and scholarships for Tebu children to study abroad have not been realised.
Several of the protesters have said that only by escalating their action will the PM’s office take their demands seriously. [/restrict]
