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ELECTRICITY CRISIS

Joumblatt calls for energy minister to be fired

Joumblatt calls for energy minister to be fired

Energy Minister Walid Fayad at the Baabda Presidential Palace on Nov. 11, 2021. (Credit: Dalati & Nohra)

BEIRUT — Progressive Socialist Party head Walid Joumblatt called for the dismissal of Energy Minister Walid Fayyad on Saturday, while Lebanon’s electricity sector, already riddled with issues, faced another setback this week with the temporary shut-down of the Deir Ammar and Zahrani power plants due to fuel shortages.

Here’s what we know:

    • “Isn’t it time to dismiss the Energy Minister, who has been roaming from capital to capital, between cafes and restaurants, while his ministry is in the hands of a team affiliated with the son-in-law of the devastating mandate,” Joumblatt wrote in a tweet. Fayyad is considered close to the Free Patriotic Movement, headed by former Energy Minister Gebran Bassil, President Michel Aoun’s son-in-law.

    • Fayyad had been in Egypt last week to discuss the terms of an agreement through which Lebanon would import Egyptian gas to supplement the energy produced by state utility Electricité du Liban. The minister has also been the subject of controversy as candid footage from his nights out spread through social media.

    • “Isn’t it time that the prime minister [Najib Mikati] revealed that there will be neither Jordanian electricity nor World Bank financing unless radical reforms are implemented in the Energy Ministry?” Joumblatt added.

    • In addition to the Egyptian gas deal, a US-backed plan to import electricity from Jordan, passing through Syria, has been in the works for months. Infrastructure renovations were undertaken to accommodate the plan, however it is still pending the World Bank’s approval of its financing. Fayyad had described obtaining the funds as the “remaining essential step” for the launch of the projects.

    • Lebanon faces long hours of electricity outages with EDL supplying only a rare few hours per day. The shutdown of the Deir Ammar and Zahrani power plants aggravated the situation however the latter’s director, Ahmad Abbas, said that they would resume activity on “Tuesday or Wednesday.”

BEIRUT — Progressive Socialist Party head Walid Joumblatt called for the dismissal of Energy Minister Walid Fayyad on Saturday, while Lebanon’s electricity sector, already riddled with issues, faced another setback this week with the temporary shut-down of the Deir Ammar and Zahrani power plants due to fuel shortages.Here’s what we know:    • “Isn’t it time to dismiss the...