The families of people detained in connection to the Beirut port explosion are among the groups staging demonstrations today, protesting what they call the arbitrary detention of their loved ones. (Credit: João Sousa/L’Orient Today)
Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up.
Lebanon’s new opposition MPs submitted one of their first pieces of legislation Wednesday, a law that “strengthens the protection of gold reserves at Banque du Liban.” Under a 1986 law, BDL is prohibited from using the country’s gold reserves “no matter what the nature of this usage is and its purpose, be it direct or indirect” without Parliament’s approval. Opposition MPs say the law did not protect the gold against being swapped for other commodities, borrowed against, or used in ways other than outright sale. The move comes in response to discussion in some quarters about using the gold reserves to help fix the hole in the banking system caused by the country’s financial crisis. Lebanon holds $17.5 billion worth of gold, according to a June 20 letter from central bank Governor Riad Salameh to MP Melhem Khalaf. In the letter Salameh also stated that “BDL has not carried out any operation, of any nature or form whatsoever, on the gold assets.
The announced closure of Zahrani Power Plant was averted after an 11th hour intervention Wednesday. Primesouth, the company contracted to operate both the Zahrani and Deir Ammar power plants, had announced it would shut the facility earlier in the day. According to Electricité du Liban (EDL), the government is in arrears to Primesouth; The public utility would not disclose by how much the government owes, but told L’Orient-Le Jour they represent 17 months of back payments. The government has paid EDL contractors $60 million since the start of the year, EDL said in a statement, “an amount insufficient to accomplish the minimum operations required.”
Air traffic controllers at Lebanon’s only airport have said they will stop working night shifts starting next month. Representatives of air traffic controllers lamented severe understaffing, which they say is preventing the employees from taking days off. There is a declining number of air traffic controllers resulting from retirements, emigration, and resignations due to difficult working conditions, they said. They plan to refuse to work from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting August 1 and have demanded a reduction in the number of daytime flights “in line with the work capacity of air traffic controllers.” Air traffic has sharply increased in recent weeks, Lebanon’s Public Works minister said at the end of June, as the summer tourism season hits full stride. In other labor news, employees of car inspection centers held a sit-in yesterday to protest the suspension of 450 co-workers without warning or severance.
The parliamentary finance and budget committee will meet this morning in a session during which they are expected to discuss amendments to the banking secrecy law. Beirut will be busy today as two other parliamentary committees also meet and at least three different protests are scheduled. The Public Works, Transport, Energy and Water Committee will meet at 10 a.m., at the same time as a meeting of the Youth and Sports committee. At 10:30 a.m. the Finance and Budget Committee will convene. The Cry of Depositors’ Association will hold a demonstration outside Banque du Liban ahead of the Finance Committee meeting. In Adlieh, the Teachers’ Syndicate will hold a press conference at the same time as the families of people detained in connection to the Beirut port explosion will stage a protest against what they call the arbitrary detention of their loved ones. In the afternoon, Adlieh will host a protest to denounce crimes against children, following claims that a retired soldier molested multiple children in the Bekaa village of al-Qaa.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Zuhal and her rings: a peek into the transformative power of Lebanese drag.”