Fezzan municipalities council has called in a statement on the Government of National Unity (GNU) to hold an emergency meeting on the situation in the south, conveying after a meeting in Sabha on Saturday ten demands to the GNU and the House of Representatives (HoR) nearly two weeks after the Bent Bayah fuel tanker truck explosion that killed 23 and injured scores.
The statement urged for developing the southern region economically, considering the victims of the tanker truck explosion as “duty martyrs,” activating air ambulance service and support the National Safety Authority with fire engines.
Among the demands included in the statement were the return of the Fezzan company to its headquarters in the city of Sabha, and the speedy construction of the oil refinery in the southern region, as well as the gas station which has been a subject of a ministerial decision.
The council called for speeding up the allocation of financial funds for contracts in all fields in the southern region, supporting the branch of the National Safety Authority in the southern region with fire trucks, safety and rescue equipment, and activating and supporting the air ambulance in southern municipalities.
The statement called on the GNU to support the health sector and hospitals in the southern region, and to push strongly for the repairing of the roads linking the east, west and south regions.
Bent Bayah accident occurred in early August, when a fuel tanker truck overturned on the road between Sabha and Ubari, and then the locals rushed to take in fuel from the truck. One person tried to use a battery to switch on the truck's pump, setting the truck on fire and leading to an explosion that left 23 people dead and others injured.