By Mohamed Hussain.
Tobruk, 7 May 2015
The government has approved plans for a new port at Susa, some 25 kilometres north of . . .[restrict]the three towns of Beida, Shahat and Labraq. It has authorised the General Authority for Transport and Communications to undertake the work in coordination with other ministries and agencies concerned in the project.
There is an existing but small harbour at Susa. The plan to build a new one is a response to the rapid development of the three towns which are, in effect, merging into a single city. If development, completely uncontrolled at present, continues at the current rate, the new city could rival Misrata as Libya’s third largest within a couple of decades.
The move to make Susa the port for the three towns has a histrorical precendent. Two thousand years ago, Shahat was Cyrene, the most important city in North Africa after Carthage and Alexandria, and Susa was Apollonia, it port.
In a 21st century update of this, Shahat Municiaplity has called on the government to ensure that Susa’s development as a port be fully integrated with that of itself.
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