By Sami Zaptia.
London, 25 April 2016:
The Audit Bureau has reported that the electricity sector (p341) of Libya has received a total . . .[restrict]of LD 8.3 bn worth of direct or indirect subsidies in the five years between 2010 and 2015.
These were made up of LD 4.4 bn in direct subsidies and LD 3.9 bn in unpaid debts for fuel supplies received from Libya’s fuel supplying company Brega.
However, the Audit Bureau lamented that despite this amount, the sector had still failed to supply the needed quantity of electricity to the country. The electricity sector employed 45,417 employees at a cost of LD 1 bn in 2015.
The critical assessment came in the Audit Bureau’s 2015 Annual Report released last week.
It will be recalled the Libya has suffered acute power shortages since the 2011 Revolution. This is partially due to increased and unrestrained use of electricity by consumers, but also due to intended and unintended damage to infrastructure caused since the 2011 Revolution.
During the ongoing Libyan political infighting electricity has often been used as a leverage tool.
The country’s insecurity has also meant that foreign technicians are unable to enter the country in order to carryout maintenance on electricity infrastructure.
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