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By George Grant
Tripoli, 8 May:
It was one of Muammar Qaddafi’s most unpleasant refrains during last year’s revolution that he planned to . . .[restrict]“cleanse” Libya’s population “like rats”. Since Qaddafi’s fall and demise in October 2011, however, Libya’s cities have been subjected to a growing infestation of the real things; and these rats really do need cleansing.
Both Libyans and international observers alike are aware of how badly the war impacted upon business in Libya. Almost all the international firms operating in the country halted their operations and evacuated their staff. Many Libyan businesses likewise had to suspend trading, either because the conflict made doing business too difficult, or else because employees, or even the owners themselves, had gone to fight.
With the conflict’s end, those businesses of critical importance to the Libyan economy resumed operations comparatively quickly. Shops reopened in urban centres such as Tripoli and Benghazi, and the oil sector, in particular, recovered apace. As early as November 2011, oil output had risen to 600,000 barrels per day (b/d), and output is now almost back at pre-war levels of 1.6 million b/d.
One sector that has been rather slower to recover, however, and with ever more visible consequences, has been waste and pest control. In the absence of functioning rubbish-collection services, the piles of bin-bags in Libyan cities have been growing ever higher. Rodents, likewise, have become a major problem.
In the last couple of weeks, however, things are starting to change. In Tripoli, squads of street cleaners, many of Bangladeshi origin, have appeared and the rubbish mountains have started to diminish, although much still remains.
In the area of pest-control, things are also looking up. Speaking to the Libya Herald today, the British firm Rentokil confirmed that it would be resuming commercial services in Libya, although its LD 45-million government contract remains suspended.
“Before the outbreak of revolution last year, we had 32 pest-control experts on the ground and about 150,000 fixed bait points around Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi”, said Malcolm Padster, Director of Corporate Communications at Rentokil.
“When the fighting broke out we had to suspend operations, and Libya certainly seems to have felt the consequences of that”, he added.
However, Padster said that throughout the conflict, Rentokil retained contact with its local pest controllers as well as hotels, restaurants and other businesses who made use of the company’s services.
Now, Rentokil has just signed a commercial contract and has 10 employees back on the ground.
When asked whether a resumption of Rentokil’s government contract was imminent, Padster insisted it was too early to say, but confirmed that discussions with the Libyan authorities were underway.
For the sake Libya’s urban residents, if not its rodents, it must be hoped that those discussions come to a successful conclusion soon.
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