State-owned telecommunication company Ogero. (Photo Credit: Philip Hage Boutros/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Ogero Managing Director Imad Kreidieh said Wednesday that the Al-Minieh power station, located in Tripoli, has stopped operating due to a fuel shortage.
He added that 30 other Ogero plants will shut down by Sunday due to the company's inability to afford the diesel to power them.
"[This] shutdown is just the beginning of a long list that is likely to continue over the coming weeks," said a senior source at Ogero when contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour.
"The power plants that are still running have fuel in their tanks," the source added. Once these reserves run out, "the plants will stop running for good, since the operator doesn't have the money to refuel."
"It's a matter of weeks, or even less, before all our servers shut down and the internet is completely cut off across the whole of Lebanon," the source concluded.