DERNA: The United Nations’ Libya envoy Abdoulaye Bathily said on Monday he was concerned about “unilateral and competing initiatives” by Libyan institutions to rebuild Derna, where a destructive flood killed thousands of people last month.
“Unilateral efforts are counterproductive, deepen the existing divisions in the country, impede reconstruction efforts and are at odds with the outpouring of solidarity, support and national unity shown by Libyan people,” he said in a statement.
Libya has had little stable governance since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising and it split in 2014 between western and eastern factions with parallel political institutions.
On Sunday, the eastern administration said it was postponing an international conference it had planned to hold on reconstruction for Derna.
The internationally recognized government in Tripoli, in the west, has also said it plans to hold a reconstruction conference.
Analysts have said control over Derna’s reconstruction, which could bring large sums in finance and coordination with foreign powers, may become a major new arena for conflict between Libyan factions.
UN Libya envoy urges unified Derna flood response
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UN Libya envoy urges unified Derna flood response
- On Sunday, the eastern administration said it was postponing an international conference it had planned to hold on reconstruction for Derna
Algeria inaugurates strategic railway to giant Sahara mine
- The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030
- The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium
ALGEIRS: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday inaugurated a nearly 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) desert railway to transport iron ore from a giant mine, a project he called one of the biggest in the country’s history.
The line will bring iron ore from the Gara Djebilet deposit in the south to the city of Bechar located 950 kilometers north, to be taken to a steel production plant near Oran further north.
The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium.
During the inauguration, Tebboune described it as “one of the largest strategic projects in the history of independent Algeria.”
This project aims to increase Algeria’s iron ore extraction capacity, as the country aspires to become one of Africa’s leading steel producers.
The iron ore deposit is also seen as a key driver of Algeria’s economic diversification as it seeks to reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons, according to experts.
President Tebboune attended an inauguration ceremony in Bechar, welcoming the first passenger train from Tindouf in southern Algeria and sending toward the north a first charge of iron ore, according to footage broadcast on national television.
The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030, according to estimates by the state-owned Feraal Group, which manages the site.
It is then expected to reach 50 million tons per year in the long term, it said.
The start of operations at the mine will allow Algeria to drastically reduce its iron ore imports and save $1.2 billion per year, according to Algerian media.
