Risk Management in Libyan Engineering Projects: Challenges, Strategies, and the Tripoli West Ring Road Case Study"

الملخص

Abstract

The aspect of risk management is a core element in the successful implementation of engineering projects especially in a place where there is a politically unstable situation and weak institutions like in Libya. The engineering and construction industries in Libya have experienced an extreme strain in the last ten years since the country has been affected by unremitting conflict, inadequate governance, unstable oil revenues and lack of coordinating institutions. Such circumstances have resulted in a complicated risk environment which spans across the conventional technical and financial aspects into political, social and environmental aspects. This paper examines issues, approaches and uses of risk management in Libyan Engineering projects using qualitative research methodology of literature review, documents analysis and case study of a leading infrastructure project in Tripoli. The analysis reveals the most essential risk types, such as political, financial, technical, environmental and social, and assesses how each of these risks affects the performance of the project, i.e., costs, schedule, and quality. The results indicate that the most common and the most severe risks are political and financial ones, which explain the most frequent project failures and cost increase. In addition, lack of standardized risk frameworks and the paucity of institutional capacity also leads to the inconsistent results of projects. The paper also considers how global standards including the ISO 31000 and the PMBOK Guide can be adapted to the fragile Libyan environment. It finds that risk management in Libya will necessitate not only technical equipment but also governance change, involvement of stakeholders, and capacity building of institutions. The study suggests that a national risk management framework that is specific to Libya challenges should be developed, with the focus on proactive planning, online risk management, and cross-sectoral cooperation. These can contribute to resilience and better implementation of projects and provide the foundation to sustainable development of infrastructure in vulnerable settings.

Keywords: Risk Management, Engineering Projects, Libya, Fragile States, Project Governance, Infrastructure Resilience.