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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 20 July 2020:
The General Assembly of the state-owned General Electric Company of Libya (GECOL) approved a new board of directors for the company, the internationally recognized Libyan government announced yesterday. GECOL’s General Assembly is headed by internationally recognized Libyan prime minister, Faiez Serraj.
The new board of directors are:
1.Dr. Abdul Salam Suleiman Al Ansari.
- Harmony Fathi Al-Abdali.
- Radwan Khalil Mohammed.
- Magdi Mohammed Suleiman Al-Fitouri.
- Abdul Hakim Faraj Mohammed Al-Farjani.
- Bashir Al-Munir al-Taher.
- Muhammad Ashour Mohammed Al-Sharif.
It will be recalled that the GECOL board has been under great pressure to sack its chairman and chief executive. Last week there was a demonstration outside Faiez Serraj’s office against GECOL.
Libya has experienced acute and debilitating power cuts recently. At times, these have lasted overnight and often over 12 hours. The country has struggled since the revolution that ended the Qaddafi regime with electricity supply, with power cuts being the norm rather than the exception.
There is a wide public perception that the outgoing board and executive of GECOL are corrupt and or inept. The Audit Bureau has accused GECOL of squandering public money and of mismanagement – despite receiving huge budgets over the years.
The lack of security in the country has meant that foreign technicians have been unwilling to travel to Libya to finish incomplete power stations or service existing ones. The 14-month war waged by Hafter on Greater Tripoli did not help either, with much damage caused to electricity infrastructure since April 2019.
Critics say the state-owned and subsidized GECOL needs to be privatized either partially or totally. They see it as a typical loss-making state-entity that is too large and inefficient.
