Under the title "Darkness Disturbs the People of Libya: Nothing Has Changed in Years," the Al Arabiya website reported that despite months of calm in the country, complete darkness continues to engulf entire neighborhoods in Libya due to random power outages. This grim scene has dominated the daily lives of Libyans for nearly ten years amidst a failure to find solutions, despite a recent political breakthrough. Meanwhile, electrical generators have spread throughout the streets of the capital, Tripoli, especially among commercial shops. The noise they create intensifies as power outages occur several times a day, averaging nearly 12 hours during the summer. Gray smoke with a sharp odor fills the streets at night while entire neighborhoods sink into darkness with the arrival of night.
"Nothing Has Changed"
For Libyans who have endured hardships since the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011 amid the country’s chaos, it seems as if nothing has changed despite the arrival of a new government, as power outages, inflation, and insecurity continue. Although the country is rich in energy resources and its population of around seven million is not large enough to share the profits of Africa’s most abundant reserves, most of its regions appear deprived, with aging infrastructure and a collapsing economy.
Promises Lost in the Wind
Commenting on living conditions, university student Nader Al-Nass (25) told Agence France-Presse, "Nothing has changed. The promises made by successive governments have not been fulfilled." Similarly, grocery store owner Osama Al-Dalah expressed his frustration, saying, "These outages exhaust us, affect us psychologically, and cause us losses. We need a fundamental solution." Mechanic Ali Al-Awami also confirmed that his work has been disrupted due to power cuts, stating, "I've been working on this car for a week." He added, "We have become prisoners in a big jail; are we expected to migrate and leave the country?"
From the west of the country to the east, the situation remains the same, with no change except for a deterioration in economic and living conditions, while the new authorities continue to issue unfulfilled promises.
