'Catastrophic' pollution plagues Libya beaches

With untreated sewage in the water and rubbish piled on the sand, pollution on Tripoli's Mediterranean coast is denying residents of the war-torn Libyan capital a much-needed escape. The environment ministry last month ordered the closure of a number of beaches along the 30km Greater Tripoli coastline, despite the roasting summer heat. "The situation is catastrophic," said Abdelbasset al-Miri, the ministry official in charge of monitoring the coast."We need quick solutions for this problem because it harms the environment just as much as it harms people."Daily discharges of untreated sewage from the capital's two million population make this the most polluted section of the North African country's 1,770km coastline.

Cans, plastic bags and bottles plague the water and shore.On one beach, near a large hotel, open-air rivulets channel untreated wastewater into the sea, where a few young men brave the contaminated waters in search of cool.Libya's infrastructure has been devastated by a decade of conflict, state collapse and neglect since the 2011 overthrow and killing of Dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed rebellion.

But Tripoli's only sewage works closed years before that, like many industrial facilities shuttered for lack of maintenance or funding.As a result, all of Tripoli's wastewater goes directly into the Mediterranean."Huge amounts of sewage get dumped in the sea every day," said Sara al-Naami of Tripoli city council.Laboratory tests have found "a high concentration of bacteria, 500 per cent more than normal", including E. Coli, at five sites along the capital's coastline, she added.

"We have raised the issue of pollution in Tripoli's seawater with the former and current governments, and emphasized the urgent need for a sanitation facility," Naami said.But, she said, in the absence of such infrastructure, "temporary solutions" are needed such as settling tanks to filter wastewater before it reaches the sea.