A car blocking access to Ogero's headquarters in Saida, South Lebanon, on Aug. 5, 2022. (Credit: Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Telephone and internet outages were reported Monday in Saida and Nabatieh while employees of the public operator Ogero continue their strike. The strike started last Tuesday to demand improvements in employee working conditions in a country facing an economic collapse.
Here's what we know:
• According to L'Orient Today's correspondent in South Lebanon, these outages disrupted the work of several sectors, including banks, hospitals and public administrations. The emergency line of the Red Cross is no longer operational in the South because of these failures. A second number was made available to the public in case of emergency: 81 715076.
• Nabatieh and its surrounding areas also suffered from interruptions to landline phone lines, internet and cellular service, which paralyzed the movement of citizens, commercial institutions and several banks, according to the state-run National News Agency.
• These telecom outages are in addition to outages reported across the country last week. The networks of cell phone operators Alfa and Touch were also affected. Following a meeting with Ogero's employees' union, Lebanon's outgoing Telecoms Minister Johnny Corm said Thursday that there would be no solutions "until next week."
Additional reporting by Muntasser Abdallah.