3. Qaddafi’s canal

The new canal

Last year, Qaddafi, the President of Libya came to Timbuktu to help the city, thanks to his great past as a beacon of faith and religion.
Qaddafi asked the wise men of the city “what do you want me to build for you? Do you want the asphalt road that connects you to the south of the country? Do you want schools and hospitals?” The wise men replied “we only want water because water is life”.

The river is 19 kilometers from Timbuktu and Qaddafi immediately called his engineers and workers from Libya and in a few months they had dug a new canal that brought the river water to Timbuktu.

In an instant he did what UNESCO and all the foreign governments had not managed in 35 years.
Now only the pumps and access to the water are missing, and because the canal is a deadly trap, people can fall easily into the water by getting too close to the sand banks and they cannot swim.

There are also very few places where you can go down on foot to get water, but these are small problems that can be solved easily and inexpensively.
The miracle is that after 35 years, thanks to the Libyan president, water has returned to Timbuktu.

The old canal