Tripoli architect remembers its glorious days

Singh was one of the architects from Central Public Works Department (CPWD) invited by Muammar Gaddafi’s Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,to expand and build Tripoli in 1975. A team of international architects,including Singh representing India,worked closely with Libyan counterparts who finalised the Masterplan of Tripoli.

Singh stayed in Tripoli from 1975 to 1981 and remembers it as one of the glamorous,modern and wealthy cities of Libya at that time.

Among tasks given to Singh were preparation of Tripoli’s Masterplan,Eastern Region of Tripoli,residential lay-outs,planning city of Garabulli along with suburbs of Tripoli and study of sea front.

“I see that Tripoli now has multi-storeyed buildings. We were asked by Libyans to design multi-storeyed ,but we built low rise as the density was quite low and they saw a point and agreed,” said the Indian architect.

Remembering Green Square or Maidan Shuhada,Singh said his principal task was to expand the square for Gaddafi’s gathering. “There were roads leading to Green Square into the walled city. Three commercial streets were hubs of commercial activity. The economy changed after the impact on Libya by Russian. Dinar notes were changed,small shops were destroyed to build supermarkets and big showrooms,” said the retired government employee.

Green Square was considered as a symbol of Gaddafi’s growing power,said the architect.

On September 1,1969,a small group of military officers led by the Libyan leader staged a coup against King Idris. From then,Libya started celebrating September 1 as Revolution Day. “There used to be a huge celebration at Green Square every year as it was the day Gaddafi captured Libya. Apart from that,there were few holidays like Independence day,British evacuation day,American evacuation day,Italian evacuation day and others. People were not allowed to take any other leaves or else disciplinary actions were taken. If you get sick,you have to report to work,recalls Singh while talking about the autocratic governance of Gaddafi.

Libya,then too,was under military siege but was a beautiful and historic place to live in,he said. “I saw Gaddafi once. I was returning from Bella Dia,where the Mayor sits. I saw Gaddafi cycling past me. He used to roam around the place on a bicycle without any security unlike these days. He was very popular among people. There was abundance of imported products in the markets,unlike India where we had a controlled economy. Every minister was a technocrat and expert in the subject of the ministry he was made in-charge of. The Libyan minister I was working under was a civil minister and I had to report to an office,” said Singh. Another reason why Singh remembers libya is because one of his two sons was born during his stay in that country.