Syrian efforts to rebuild infrastructure face challenges

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As Syrian forces close in on ISIL militants in the city of Raqqa, Syrian civilians have begun rebuilding in areas where ISIL has already been expelled. But, reconstruction efforts have been complicated by the large number of displaced refugees, and by the absence of government support.

Lake Assad, on the edge of the Euphrates River was the scene of a bitter fight with ISIL. That battle lasted for 50 days. The lake is a site of great strategic importance.

A Syrian works on a shattered school in the old city of Homs, central Syria. /Xinhua Photo

The largest hydroelectric dam in Syria, just outside the town of Tabqa, used to provide a significant amount of the country's energy. Since the fighting began, it stopped producing electricity. ISIL blew up the electricity generators in the dam as they fled.

The authorities in Tabqa are trying to restart the generators, but they have neither the expertise nor the equipment.

Rebuilding after ISIL is proving an enormous challenge. People are living in the rubble of apartments and homes.

Many have come to the area, to escape the fighting in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor.

Syrian city of Homs /Sputnik Photo

Farida Abdullahal Hasan and her eight children are now living there.

"It was very difficult for us to stay in the camp. We have teenage daughters and my husband and his brother are both blind, so it was very difficult to stay inside a camp," Hasan said.

The brother of a building owner said he thinks the government in Damascus should be trying to fix this because people are living on the edge of disaster.

But he also blames the US-led coalition for their heavy-handed response in an area he said where there were just 35 ISIL militants.

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