With the objective of keeping you updated on the world of construction, Plumbing-info.com has been continuing with this exciting series with the principal focus on a country-wise basis, of general development and plans afoot in the construction sector per se. Each issue of this series presents a different country every month. (Click here to view the earlier publications.)
In this issue, we focus on the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya : A Brief History:
As a Roman province, Libya was prosperous, reaching a golden age in the 2nd century AD. The decline of the Roman Empire saw the classical cities fall into ruin; a process hastened by the vandals' destructive sweep though Northern Africa in the 5th century AD. The Arab invasion of the 7th century brought Islam to the country, where it remains firmly entrenched to this day. Arab rule was culturally fruitful, and many examples of early Islamic architecture remain, especially in the oasis of the South. The Arabs ruled Libya until the Turks conquered the country in the mid-16th century. Following the Napoleonic wars, European powers began to colonise Northern Africa, and the Turks hastened to strengthen their control of Libya.
The Italians claimed Libya in 1911 but the country was unhappy under Italian control, mounting local resistance to the Italians. Following an UN resolution in 1949, the country attained independence, as the United
Kingdom of Libya on 24 December 1951. Muhammad Idris as-Sanusi, Amir of Cyrenaica, became King Idris of Libya. The country enjoyed internal political stability and generally had good relations with both the Arab world and the West.
On 1 September 1969, a small group of army officers led by 27-year-old Captain Mu'ammar Gaddafi deposed the old king in a coup. Gaddafi's regime was committed to a more equitable distribution of Libya's enormous oil income, and billions of dollars were spent on roads, schools, housing, hospitals and agriculture. The Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) abolishes the monarchy and proclaims the new Libyan Arab Republic. Qadhafi emerges as leader of the RCC and eventually as de facto chief of state. Libya becomes a socialist dictatorship, striving to export its Arab socialist revolution into other countries. The state is restyled Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in 1977 and Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in 1986.
In 1972 a proposed federation of Libya, Syria, and Egypt was abandoned following another proposed merger with Syria in 1980 which was also abandoned. Libyan troops began fighting in northern Chad. Qadhafi installed a new head of government, Prime Minister Mubarak al-Shamikh in 2000. He also abolished 12 central government ministries and transferred their powers to provincial bodies. Libya withdrew from the Arab League in 2002. Though Qadhafi is formally not the head of state since 1979, he remains de facto leader of Libya.
Major Cities
Tripoli
Tripoli, city, (Arabic Tarabulus; ancient Oea), capital of Libya, on the Mediterranean Sea, in the northwestern part of the country. It is the largest city, a principal seaport, and the leading commercial and manufacturing center of Libya. Major manufactures include processed food, textiles, clothing, construction materials, and tobacco products. Tripoli has the Al Fatah University and a technical university. There are some museums and some embassies.
Benghazi
Banghazi, also Bengasi or Benghazi, city, northeastern Libya, in the district of Banghazi, on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Sidra. The second largest city of Libya, it is located on a railroad and has a considerable caravan trade with the interior. Banghazi is the center of trade in the cereals, dates, olives, wool, and livestock produced in the surrounding area. Important industries include salt processing, oil refining, food processing, cement manufacturing, tanning, brewing and sponge and tuna fishing. Sponges, hides, and wool are the chief exports. Fresh water is provided by one of the world's largest desalinization plants.
Misratah
Misratah, also Misurata, coastal city, northwestern Libya, capital of Misratah Governorate, separated from the Mediterranean Sea by Cape Misratah. It is Libya's third largest city, with an old section of narrow streets and a spacious, modern section with gardens and tree-lined avenues. Carpets and textiles are major manufactures. Formerly known as Thubactis, the city dates from the 7th century. The Italians built its port in the 20th century.
Sabha
Sabha is the largest oasis and the major city in the Fezzan Region. It is situated in the middle of the desert where visitors may spend an enjoyable time in a quiet and peaceful atmosphere between golden sand dunes, green palm trees, clear water springs and the ancient ruins and civilization that surround it. The modern city of Sabha may be reached via a modern highway network across the desert or by air from Tripoli and Benghazi.
Ghirza
Ghirza was an Arab town which developed and flourished during the early centuries A.D. in a semi-desert area and in hard climatic conditions, only through the sheer will of the inhabitants. The origin of the name Ghirza is unknown, but it is probable that its original name was Gerisa, which is one of the towns in the Sirt area listed by the historian Ptolemy. The ruins of Ghirza are considered archeologically important in the Libya as they are built to a local pattern yet influenced by architectural styles prevailing at the end of the Hellenic era.
Economy
Two factors have profoundly affected Libya's economy: its oil wealth and the political changes implemented by Colonel Qadhafi since his rise to power. Libya began to export its oil in the 1960s, facilitating the country's transformation from one of the poorest nations in the world to one of Africa's more wealthy countries.
Libya's economy is dominated by the hydrocarbons sector, which contributes 95 percent of hard currency earnings and approximately 30 percent of GDP. Agriculture accounts for around five percent of GDP and employs about seven percent of the labor force. Although agriculture is the second-largest sector in the economy, due to
climatic conditions and poor soil have severely limited agricultural production, causing Libya to become heavily reliant on imported food products. Import restrictions and inefficient resource allocations have led to periodic shortages of basic goods and foodstuffs. The non-oil manufacturing and construction sectors, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to now include petrochemicals, iron, steel, and aluminum. While Libya's economy has been stagnant since 1995, it has shown some growth in the late 1990s and the trend is expected to continue. It is hoped this will help to lower the unemployment rate, which stands at about 30 percent.
Since the 1970s, Libyan authorities have undertaken a number of economic plans, aiming for the diversification of the oil-dominated economy into other sectors, including tourism. Libya's economic policy in the 1980s and 1990s focused on softening the impact of US and UN sanctions. Higher oil prices in the last three years led to an increase in export revenues, which has improved macroeconomic balances but has done little to stimulate broad-based economic growth. The government has announced ambitious plans to increase foreign investment in the oil and gas sectors to significantly boost production capacity. The government is also pursuing a number of infrastructure projects such as highways, railways, telecommunications backbones, and irrigation. Libya is making slow progress toward economic liberalization and the upgrading of economic infrastructure, but truly market-based reforms will be slow in coming.
Building & Construction Market
The construction industry has played a prominent role in economic development, as one would expect in a country largely devoid of infrastructure before the mid-1960s. The construction industry got its start as a result of foreign oil company investment during the 1960s, but since 1969 it has grown in accordance with the government construction projects called for in the successive five-year plans.
In 1975 the government began to reorganize the construction industry to make it more efficient. At that time, there were about 2,000 contractors, many of them small proprietorships or partnerships. The minister of housing was given the authority to merge contracting firms into a smaller number of larger firms capable of carrying out large construction projects. Previously, the government had set up several state-owned construction companies to build factories and to carry out civil engineering projects. The many government-sponsored construction projects of the 1970s created a booming industry, so much so that by the end of the decade Libya had become the world's leading per capita consumer of cement. This was a significant economic achievement, particularly because the 1978 housing law effectively had eliminated private residential construction. In 1986 construction supplied about 11 percent of GDP, second only to public services in the non-petroleum sector.
The construction industry, however, was damaged more than any other sector by the severe cutback in the number of foreign workers in Libya in the mid-1980s. Nonetheless, construction remained the number one employer during 1984. The cutbacks in development spending, together with the foreign worker exodus, led to a decline in overall construction. As an illustration, in 1985 the cement industry, which had been expanded during the building boom, was capable of producing 6 million tons a year, but domestic demand had dwindled to only 4.5 million tons.
Currently $35 billion is expected to be injected into Libya's construction industry priority areas for investment including water projects, oil and gas, electricity and power generation, transport (including airport infrastructure, aircraft and marine fleets, ports) communications, roads, schools, hospitals and railways. Development of tourism in Libya offers great opportunities for the construction industry - a five year programme of investment has been initiated which envisages a total of $7000 million of investment.
The Water Sector
Within Libya as many as five different climatic zones have been recognized, but the dominant climatic influences are Mediterranean and Saharan. Rainfall is scanty, and the dry climate results in a year-round 98-percent visibility. Less than 2 percent of the national territory receives enough rainfall for settled agriculture, the heaviest precipitation occurring in the Jabal al Akhdar zone of Cyrenaica, where annual rainfall of 400 to 600 millimeters is recorded. All other areas of the country receive less than 400 millimeters, and in the Sahara 50 millimeters or less occurs. Rainfall is often erratic, and a pronounced drought may extend over two seasons.
Deficiency in rainfall is reflected in an absence of permanent rivers or streams, and the approximately twenty perennial lakes are brackish or salty. In 1987 these circumstances severely limited the country's agricultural potential as a basis for the sound and varied economy Qadhafi sought to establish. The government has constructed a network of dams in wadis, dry watercourses that become torrents after heavy rains. These dams are used both as water reservoirs and for flood and erosion control. The wadis are heavily settled because soil in their bottoms is often suitable for agriculture, and the high water table in their vicinity makes them logical locations for digging wells. In many wadis, however, the water table is declining at an alarming rate, particularly in areas of intensive agriculture and near urban centers. The government has expressed concern over this problem and because of it has diverted water development projects, particularly around Tripoli, to localities where the demand on underground water resources is less intense.
The most talked-about of the water resources, however, are the great subterranean aquifers of the desert. The best known of these lies beneath Al Kufrah Oasis in southeastern Cyrenaica, but an aquifer with even greater reputed capacity is located near the oasis community of Sabha in the southwestern desert. In the late 1970s, wells were drilled at Al Kufrah and at Sabha as part of a major agricultural development effort. An even larger undertaking is the so-called Great Man-Made River, initiated in 1984. It is intended to tap the tremendous aquifers of the Al Kufrah, Sarir, and Sabha oases and to carry the resulting water to the Mediterranean coast for use in irrigation and industrial projects.
Major Projects on the anvil
The new project dubbed "Sea Tower" to be built on 7 hectares at Tripoli's eastern coast line, is planned to include three towers. One tower will be of 40 floors and accommodate a five star hotel of more than 400 rooms. A second tower of 25 floors, will be a residential one with about 100 flats, while the third one will be an administrative compound of 18 floors. The three year project also includes a conference hall, a medical and sports centers, parks, 7 restaurants, multi levels car park stadiums and a harbour.
Libya is set to establish a new free zone in the eastern part of the country. The General People's Committee has passed a resolution to establish a free zone to be used for commercial and investment activities. The new free zone will be situated at Imssad city and it will be supervised by the General People's Committee of Al-Butnan municipality. Libya has already established Misuratah Free Zone, which is managed by the General Authority for Free Zones. It occupies an area of 430 ha adjacent to Misuratah port and includes parts of it as an initial stage. The area is located 207 km. east of Tripoli. Close to the Free Zone, there is the Steel Complex, which is the biggest industrial complex in Libya.
Libya allocated 5000 hectares of land to build a new industrial city in Tajoura, 30 km to the east of Tripoli. The new city, a joint venture with Germany's GTC and Annahda Center for Consultations and Technical Services, will feature 12 thousand industrial sites, including residential areas and industrial and electronic compounds. Sources at Annahda Center said the aim of this project is to enhance the national economy and offer new job opportunities to Libyan job seekers. The new industrial city will be the largest of its kind in Africa, though the sources never mentioned when the construction will begin.
The Great Man-made River (GMR) Project, which brings fresh water from beneath the Sahara to the cities and populated
areas along the Mediterranean, is a remarkable achievement. It is the largest construction project in the
world, valued at $30 billion, designed to deliver Sub-Sahara water resources to inhabited Northern Areas.
Progress is being made on the GMR Project and the third phase is nearing completion, therefore paving the way for the proposals for procurement, design and construction packages on the fourth phase of the major project - a contract that will include the installation of 620 kilometres of pipeline and four pumping stations.
The government is planning to attract 3 million tourists/annum, last year 570,000 tourists visited Libya. Currently $35 billion is expected to be injected into Libya's construction industry of which the majority will be spent on the construction of new hotels and tourist villages close to the Ancient Roman cities that many foreign visitors come to see. Presently there is a 60,000 bed shortage in accommodation. Tripoli's de-luxe Corinthia Towers hotel has just been built and is proof that major international hotels can be built in Libya.
The Sha'biya (Governorate of Tripoli) will be responsible for handling projects in Tripoli, said to be worth 5 billion Libyan Dinar, which will focus on roads, sewage treatment plants, construction of housing, the airport and two desalination plants.
Privatization
In 1988, Colonel Qadhafi initiated his "green perestroika," a series of economic liberalization measures designed to encourage privatization of public sector companies and broaden the scope of private sector activities to include retail trade, small-scale industries, and agricultural businesses. A sharp increase in imports of consumer goods was also realized thanks to a non-restrictive policy for imports and exports. Since the late 1990s, the Libyan government has been working on reforms to make the business environment more attractive for foreign investors. Toward this end, the government passed the Foreign Currency Investment Law of 1997 and the Free Trade Act in 1999. In 2000, Libya asked local and foreign investors to take a larger role in the five-year plan that will help to privatize its state-run industries. High on the list of priorities are the telecommunications industry and road infrastructure, especially a 1,400 kilometer road leading from Libya to its sub-Saharan neighbors.
Libyan Prime Minister Shukri Ghanim said that just under half of 360 state firms earmarked by the government for reform had already been privatised. One hundred and sixty public companies have been transferred to the private sector and major international firms have been invited to take part in this privatization. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi gave his blessing to the privatisation programme in 2003, allowing his government to push ahead with the necessary reforms. The government later announced that a total of 360 companies would be privatised between 2004 and 2008. The capital of 54 of them is expected to be opened to foreign investors in July, according to the minister in charge of the programme Mahmoud Ahmed al-Fitissi.
Summary
Libya is located in North Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt and Sudan to the east, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west and northwest, respectively. Libya benefits from this strategic position, which makes the country a crucial link between the Arab world, Europe, and Africa. The discovery of oil in 1958 transformed Libya from a poor agricultural country into one of the world's leading petroleum producers, with vast sums to spend on social, agricultural, and military development. Major crops include cereals, olives, fruits, dates, and vegetables.
The economy has undergone a gradual process of liberalisation by the government. Despite the fact that it is a relatively wealthy country, Libya is still faced with many economic problems. The oil sector of Libya is by far the most important in terms of revenue, it has resulted in the upliftment of the quality of life of the Libyan people. Agriculture is the second largest sector in the country's economy. Libya has an undeveloped infrastructure and a bloated public sector. But the government has identified the area of infrastructure as one that needs immediate attention has allocated a sizeable amount of the budget to the upgrading of this sector.
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