The deadly flood disaster that resulted in the death of more than 5,000 lives in Libya can be linked to the political situation in the country.
Wolfram Lacher, an expert on Libya at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), made the revelation on Wednesday.
Lacher said the pathetic incident was not just a natural disaster but one linked to the political situation in the country.
“It is not simply a natural disaster, but an event that is very closely linked to the political situation in Libya,” Lacher said.
Powerful Storm Daniel swept through Eastern Libya on Sunday causing devastating impacts in Derna city.
Two dams collapsed in the city during the storm.
Officials have said some 5,200 have died and about 10,000 people are still missing, however, the latest figures could not be independently verified.
The cost of the massive destruction could had been invested in infrastructure.
Two rival governments are vying for power in Libya, which has been plagued by unrest in recent years.
One is based in the east and the other is based in the capital Tripoli, in the west.
So far, diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve the ongoing civil war have failed.
Libya has been in turmoil since the overthrow of dictator Muamar Gaddafi in 2011.
Countless militias are still fighting for power and influence in the oil-rich country.
The conflict is further fuelled by foreign states.
Lacher said Gaddafi punished Derna in the 1990s when insurgents took up arms.
But in the years after Gaddafi’s fall “nothing at all was invested in infrastructure”.
“Some money has flowed to the region in recent years, but it went into the pockets of militia leaders and war profiteers,” he said.
