Who was behind the stability of the power grid?
Everyone in Libya remembers those years we spent groping for any cool place to escape the summer heat that besieged us as a result of the power outage, and when the hum of the electricity returned to the (air conditioner) it became similar to the voice of Umm Kulthum, as she called out, “To whom do I go to?”
We have lived with and in this surreal scene for quite a few years, and we heard then the justifications of the executive authority for its inability to maintain the stability of the electricity company, the board of Directors of which has changed more than the number of times the position of Aqeela Saleh has changed politically!
No solution was in sight, until the government of the return of life came along.
We heard news that (Mohamed Omar A Mashai) was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Electricity Company. He had previously headed the Administrative Oversight Authority. The Libyans did not expect much from him, especially because he is a (dentist) meaning that he is not of the field, and is not a company insider, the fact which did not much raise the hopes and aspirations of Libyans for improvement of the situation, but as soon as assumed duties, and within two months, the features of the stability of the power grid became clear to a large extent, and the electricity company news bulletins about the status of the power grid became more accurate and a source of optimism, after having been a source of misery. Successes continued through re-maintaining, reconstructing, and bringing many power plants into service, raising the salaries of the company employees, and significantly increasing the response rate of the company offices in the municipalities to malfunctions that occur, and the employees and technicians of the electricity company turned into the image of angels of mercy for Libyans.
This relief was followed by a set of legitimate questions, namely:
Since the electricity situation could have been fixed so quickly? Why didn't this happen in past years?
Who was behind the torture of Libyans all these years? Was it really that easy? Or does Al Mashai have a magic wand?
Many believe that the issue was not just money. In recent years, successive governments have spent enough money to illuminate all of Africa, but they were not even able to reduce the hours of “power outage” and the security situation in general has not changed much. The situation is still close to that of previous years, with relative stability in the issue of major clashes. In fact, in the past, merely hearing the sound of bullets we knew very well that it would be accompanied by the sound of (power outage), but now the clashes are taking place in the center of the capital, and we are following them from our well-lit homes.
This is why some believe that there is a clear role of the person who runs the electricity company; there is a clear plan to rearrange the company internal affairs. There are those who believe that Al Mashai is supported by some armed groups that were keen on seeing him succeed. If this analysis is true, then there is something that we have not seen yet.
However, in all cases, no one can deny Al Mashai’s ability to restore life, firstly to the company, and secondly to Libyans.
In light of the heat wave that struck the entire region, and clearly affected Tunisia and Egypt, the latter of which is still suffering from power outages until now, the Libyans remained cool in the summer and warm in the winter as a result of Al Mashai’s management of this company and his ability to also eliminate most of the obstacles that were preventing the Libyans from obtaining their right to electricity.
It also enabled the process of paying electricity bills to be resumed by consumers, especially entrepreneurs, and many electricity meters in homes were modernized, and there are attempts to create a more accurate mechanism for paying electricity bills via digital cards in the future.
We are not anticipating the future. There are not yet any true indicators that we can rely on to say that the electricity issue has completely ended. The matter may return at any moment, or it may not return at all. This is linked to Al Mashai’s ability to establish a process that is not related to him personally, to ensure that what happened is not repeated.
Until that happens, or not, let's enjoy Al Mashai’s electricity.