More than 260 Libyan and international companies on Wednesday attended a forum in Benghazi organised by the country’s eastern authorities with the hope of rebuilding the flood-ravaged city of Derna. On September 10, Storm Daniel hit the east coast of Libya, causing floods that collapsed two dams in the coastal city and released a deluge of water that razed entire neighbourhoods. Thousands of people were reported dead and missing, and more than 40,000 were displaced by the disaster.
The eastern authorities, unrecognised by the United Nations and backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, invited the international community to the event aimed at planning Derna’s reconstruction nearly two months after large parts of the port city were destroyed.
More than 400 participants and 260 firms from around 10 countries “including the United States, France, Russia, China and Turkey” were represented at the opening of the forum, the organising committee said in a press release. The event, initially set for October, was postponed to November 1 and 2 to “offer time for the submission of effective studies and projects”, a statement from the organisers said last month.
Libya has been battered by armed conflict and political chaos since a NATO-backed uprising led to the toppling of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. The North African country is now divided between an internationally recognised Tripoli-based government led by interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah in the west, and the Haftar-backed administration in the east.
“The primary objective of this forum is to discuss and consult on a specific vision” for the reconstruction of Derna, said Oussama Hamad, head of the eastern government. “The (eastern) government intends to launch vast projects to achieve these objectives,” he added.
The European Union mission in Libya said in a statement on Wednesday it was “only considering participating as observers at technical level to the Benghazi conference”. “Our attendance will not constitute an endorsement of any unilateral reconstruction initiatives, or of the status of any Libyan participants,” it added.
The US ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, said in late September that rebuilding Derna would be more effective if both ruling sides worked “jointly and inclusively in coordination with institutions that manage resources and funding taking into account the best interests of the Libyan people”. “As focus on reconstruction increases, Libyans need to be assured public funds are used transparently, accountably, and that assistance goes to those in need,” the statement read.
