Walid Fayyad, Minister of Energy and Water Resources of Lebanon, made a press statement about the electricity crisis in his country. Fayyad stated that they have prepared a plan for a legal and comprehensive resolution of the crisis and will present it to the council of ministers, referring to the “administrative vacuum” created by the inability to elect the president since October 2022, warning that if this continues, it could threaten national unity.
Reminding that the government approved a budget of 600 million dollars in August 2022 to increase the electricity production in the country to 4 hours a day, Fayyad said that the Central Bank refused to pay this amount.
600 MILLION DOLLARS ARE NEEDED FOR 4 HOURS OF ELECTRICITY
Fayyad stated that the decision, which was previously approved by the parliament and the government, does not need to be discussed again or brought to the meeting of the council of ministers, and noted that a budget of 600 million dollars is needed to provide electricity for 4 hours a day for the next 5 months.
Fayyad said that $62 million should be paid to a ship that is currently waiting to unload its fuel load, adding that apart from this ship, 75 million dollars are needed for the purchase of fuel on other ships, and their ministries need 54 million dollars for maintenance and repair services.
According to Lebanese media, 4 unpaid fuel-laden ships are waiting at sea.
PRODUCTION FACILITIES ARE AT STOPPING POINT
Due to the economic crisis that started to deepen in the country since 2019, fuel-powered electricity generation facilities came to a standstill.
In Lebanon, electricity is provided for an average of 2 hours per day for a long time, especially from 2021, while citizens are trying to obtain electricity in a limited way with generators, which are very expensive at other times of the day.
In the last period, only one hour of electricity per day can be provided to the citizens by the state. (AA)