By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 11 September 2017:
Sebha University has decided to postpone the start of the new semester because of the increasing security and transport problems faced by staff and students.
In a decision announced on Sunday, the university has said while it was ready to begin the academic year, the fuel shortage was preventing students and staff travelling to the university. This, it noted, was not just in Sebha but the entire southern region.
There are record high prices for fuel in the region. It is now selling in some places for LD 2.500 a litre.
The university also cited other high prices and the lack of cash in the banks plus the worsening security situation as reasons why students and staff were not returning to Sebha at present. Rather than open for just a small number of students, the university felt it was wiser to delay the new academic year.
It was due to start on 3 September.
The fuel issue in the south has become something of a vicious circle. Supplies from the north have dwindled because of the threat from thieves. Last Wednesday, six fuel tankers taking 250,000 litres of diesel to Obari power station were hijacked and then two days later a tanker with 30,000 litres of gasoline was hijacked in Jufra while heading south. In turn, the scarcity of fuel has made it a more alluring objective for thieves. Added to this, the drop in the value of the dinar has made it more profitable for smugglers to take it to Niger and Chad to sell there.
The Brega Oil Company’s fuel and gas crisis committee has promised more deliveries of fuel to the south but is also demanding that the authorities take action to secure the roads and protect fuel tankers.
