LIBYA

Sirte University prepares to reopen

While high prices and shortages of building materials are challenging townspeople returning to Sirte, plans are under way to restart higher education, reports the Libya Herald.

Directors of Sirte University met recently in Tripoli to look at reopening the eleven faculties which include two on a separate campus in Hun. Sirte University, which until 1991 was part of Benghazi’s Garayounis university, has specialised in agriculture, science and engineering. It is unclear how many students were enrolled when the town was overrun by IS terrorists in May 2015. But three years earlier there were just over 10,000, of whom 500 lived on campus.

University managers are likely to face the same challenges as everyone else in the town in seeking to rebuild. Five districts have been swept for improvised explosive devices and residents have been told they can return. But Al-Buwabat reported that the price of basics such as cement has rocketed. Given that many residences have suffered severe damage, the demand for materials already exceeds supply.
Full report on the Libya Herald site