By Aimen Eljali and Muhammad Elosta.
Tripoli, 26 September 2013:
Engineers are working to repair the pipes of the Man Made River that . . .[restrict]were vandalised on Monday near Garabulli, reportedly by a local militiamen. The head of administrative and financial affairs of the Man Made River, Alaa Albaabaa, based in Tripoli, told the Libya Herald that work should be competed by Saturday.
“The water pipes linking the Gazahiya area, near Garabulli to the Sidi Sayeh reservoir were vandalised which in turn then effected Suq Al-Ahad, which suffered a loss of water. No staff were hurt, nor was there any altercation between locals and the maintenance staff”. But Alaa Baabaa also stated that this was not the first time that locals had vandalized the pipes in the area.
The damage is said to be the result of an attempt to connect illegally into the Man Made River pipelines in the Gazahiya area causing a massive leak.
“A citizen illegally made a connection to a water pipe, located in the area of Gazahiya causing a very strong leak because of the strength of water being pumped through the pipeline,” the General Director of Hasawna and Jafara Plain Water System, Mohamed Hajaji, was quoted by the Libyan news agency LANA as saying.
He reassured people in Tripoli and its surrounding areas that they did not need to worry about water supplies. They would continue uninterrupted.
He too pointed out that there had been repeated attempts by individuals to connect illegally to the pipelines. Such people had also tried to disrupt maintenance work, he said. [/restrict]