To achieve all this, construction work was tendered and many overseas companies, including from US, Korea, Turkey, Britain, Japan and Germany took up contracts for each Phase, and some have worked for decades in Libya. The project has not been without problems, including faulty materials and financial difficulties within some of the contracting firms. Since the NATO air attacks on Libya began in March, most foreign nationals have returned home, including those employed on the hydro scheme. The final phase of the Great Man-made River Project is stalled.
Libyan people put their hearts into work on the GMMRP from the beginning, and years ago took on most of the managerial and technical positions as their expert knowledge increased, with government policy encouraging their education, training and employment. They proudly call the GMMR "the eighth wonder of the world."
(UN Human Development Index figures for Libya since the beginning of Gaddafi's influence can be found here.)
The project was so well recognised internationally that UNESCO in 1999 accepted Libya's offer to fund an award named after it, the Great Man-Made River International Water Prize , the purpose of which is to "reward remarkable scientific research work on water usage in arid areas".
Gaddafi was often ridiculed in the West for persevering with such an ambitious project. Pejorative terms such "pipedream", "pet project" and "mad dog" appeared in UK and US media. Despite a certain amount of awe for the enormity of the construction, the Great Man-made River was often dismissed as a "vanity project" and then rarely mentioned in western media. But truth is, it's a world class water delivery system, and often visited by overseas engineers and planners wanting to learn from Libyan expertise in water transfer hydro-engineering.
On 22 July this year, four months into the air strikes to "protect civilians", NATO forces hit the GMMR water supply pipeline. For good measure the following day, NATO destroyed the factory near Brega that produces the pipes to repair it, along with killing six guards there.
NATO air strikes on the electricity supply, as well as depriving civilians of electricity, mean that water pumping stations are no longer operating in areas even where the pipelines remain intact. Water supply for the 70% of the population who depend on the piped supply has been compromised with this damage to Libya's vital infrastructure.
Oh, and by the way, attacking essential civilian infrastructure is a war crime.
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