Once the allocations have been made, the maintenance has never been carried out. The danger has been known for years
The collapse of the two dams in Derna in Libya is not the result of climate change, not at all! Of course, Cyclone Daniel hit the coasts with violence north-eastern parts of the country but a mixture of negligence, corruption and political chaos seem to be the true causes of a tragedy announced for years by experts. In the past there would have been two allocations for the maintenance of the dams, considered dilapidated. But the interventions were never carried out, causing damage, which for now is incalculable: 11,400 dead and 10,000 missing according to local authorities; 4,000 people killed and 9,000 missing according to the United Nations.
The two dams, Abu Mansour and Derna, which rise above the Wadi Derna river valley, were structures built of clay, rock and earth and were intended to protect the city of Derna from flash floods. Built in the 1970s by a Yugoslavian construction company, they collected water which was then used to irrigate crops downstream. That of Abu Mansour, 74 meters high, and farthest from the city, could carry up to 22.5 million cubic meters of water. The one in Derna, however, closer to the city of the same name, had a flow rate of 1.5 million cubic meters of water.
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But “they were dilapidated”, Saleh Emhanna, a geological and researcher at the University of Ajdabia in Libya, explained to the international press. “In the event of a major flood, the consequences will be disastrous for the residents of the valley and the city,” Abdelwanees Ashoor, professor of civil engineering, announced last year in a study published in the Sabha University Journal of Pure and Applied Science. He speaks to the wind. And the dams had already suffered serious damage during a strong storm in 1986. More than a decade later, a study commissioned by the Libyan government had also revealed cracks and fissures in the structures, the Libyan attorney general, al-Sediq al- Sour.
Yet maintenance has remained a dead letter for years, despite an allocation of over 2 million dollars between 2012 and 2013 and another allocation made in 2007. In this last case, the Turkish company in charge of carrying out maintenance and also building a third dam would have carried out only partial interventions, escaping from the post-Arab Spring civil war which first dethroned and then killed Moammar Gaddafi, causing the division of the country in two . In 2021, a report from an audit agency managed by the Libyan state, US and Canadian newspapers say, confirmed that the two dams had not undergone maintenance despite the allocations. In general, the country’s infrastructure suffered widespread abandonment after Gaddafi’s exit despite Libya’s wealth and oil market. The images of Derna today show a widespread scenario of devastation. Local officials estimate that about a quarter of the city has been razed. Libyan authorities have opened an investigation into the collapse. Activists are calling for an international investigation into the disaster but the local military authorities are expected to firmly refuse.
At a press conference in the affected city, prosecutor al-Sour said prosecutors will investigate the collapse of the two dams, as well as the allocation of funds for the interventions. “I reassure the citizens”, explained al-Sour, “that anyone who has committed errors or negligence will be brought to trial, prosecutors will certainly take firm measures and initiate criminal proceedings against those responsible.” But for thousands of people it is too late.
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