Libya: Demonstration staged outside GECOL offices in Misrata July 4

Event

Demonstrators gathered outside of the General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) office in Misrata on Saturday, July 4, over continued power outages. Reports suggest that protesters forced the closure of nearby roads with burning tires.

Further unrest in the area is anticipated in the near term.

Context

GECOL reported in March that two units at its Misrata power plant were out of service due to technical issues, leading to increased load shedding hours. Disruptions to power supply also provoked unrest in Tripoli. Inadequate electricity generation capacity there in recent years has seen regular load-shedding outages of up to ten hours in some areas, with blackouts increasing in the summer months as high temperatures put additional strain on infrastructure. The electricity supply issues have prompted several service delivery protests in Tripoli in recent weeks, with demonstrators calling for the dismissal of GECOL.

Advice

Those in Misrata are advised to monitor developments, anticipate localized disruption, and heed any directives issued by local authorities. All demonstrations and political gatherings in Libya should be avoided due to the risk of incidental violence and aggressive crowd-dispersal operations by security forces.