The Coral oil company in Lebanon said yesterday that it would stop supplying its gas stations with fuel amid severe shortages. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
Hassan Nasrallah and Dorothy Shea announced separate initiatives to ease Lebanon’s severe electricity crisis. On Thursday morning, the Hezbollah leader said a tanker would set sail from Iran “within hours” to deliver diesel — a now-scare fuel that powers generators in the near-complete absence of electricity from the state-run grid. The move could trigger sanctions, warned former Premier Saad Hariri, a foe of Hezbollah. Later in the day, the American ambassador announced that the US — another Hezbollah foe — is working to secure electricity from Jordan through Syria using Egyptian gas. In an interview with Al-Arabiya, Shea conceded US sanctions against Syria presented issues, but said she thought the plan would “fall into place fairly easily”; however, she gave no timeline for implementation. As the high-level politics played out, blackouts continued to plague businesses, government offices, hospitals and homes, with telecoms exchanges failing in three areas and the head of Rafik Hariri University Hospital warning that its donated diesel stocks were dwindling. Lebanon’s largest public hospital has not received state electricity since Monday.
Coral said it will close its gas stations due to a lack of fuel. In a statement, the company blamed the state for the failure to process the payment for a gasoline shipment waiting off the coast. The fuel shortages are industry-wide, according to Georges Brax, a spokesperson for the gas station owners’ syndicate, and most stations will likely close their pumps next week as fuel runs out. Meanwhile, Total said it would open its stations today after receiving a shipment of fuel this week.
The death toll in last weekend’s explosion in Akkar climbed to 35 after 34-year-old Alaa Salem Kbeidat succumbed to his wounds. The soldier’s death is unlikely to be the last, an army source told L’Orient Today, as several people are still missing or seriously injured. The blast occurred late Saturday night as the army was distributing tens of thousands of liters of fuel that had been confiscated from smugglers. Two of the injured were evacuated to the United Arab Emirates yesterday, following five others who had been flown to Turkey for treatment earlier in the week.
Parliament meets today to address the fuel shortages and the central bank’s decision to end subsidies. The 2 p.m. session comes in response to a letter from President Michel Aoun urging the legislature to take an “appropriate position, measure or decision” regarding the situation. On Saturday, Banque du Liban Gov. Riad Salameh said he would not spend banks’ mandatory reserves — dollars crucial to maintaining fuel subsidies — without a directive from Parliament. Despite BDL’s decision, the Energy Ministry has yet to increase fuel prices, tangling the economics of fuel purchasing and distribution. Those opposed to Salameh’s decision say he should wait until a massive and yet-to-be-funded ration card program is put in place to help Lebanon’s poor weather the price increases expected from the end to fuel subsidies.