Électricité du Liban (EDL) headquarters in Beirut, facing the port, May 1, 2024. (Credit: P.H.B.)
Lebanon’s caretaker Finance Minister, Youssef Khalil, has agreed to grant the performance bonuses specified in Decree No. 13020 of Feb. 28, 2024, to employees of Electricite du Liban (EDL) and associated workers, according to several local media sources. L'Orient-Le Jour confirmed this with a source from the public establishment, who is not authorized to speak to the press.
This decision is expected to end the strike initiated this week by EDL employees, who had called for the bonus through their union. The bonus aims to partially compensate for salary losses due to the Lebanese lira's collapse during the five-year socio-economic crisis.
Public sector wages have not yet been adjusted to pre-crisis levels. The EDL source indicated that the process for implementing the minister’s agreement is not yet clear.
In a statement, the Litani National Office announced it would increase hydroelectric power production from 50 megawatts to 80 megawatts to ensure electricity supply to several key infrastructures. The office also thanked Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, head of the Amal Movement to which Minister Khalil belongs, suggesting Berri may have played a role in the move.
EDL is facing new delays in fuel deliveries under a barter agreement with Iraq made in July 2021, which has forced it to reduce production to a minimum.
On Wednesday, EDL management reported having 10 days' worth of fuel remaining, while the caretaker Energy and Water Minister said the situation might be resolved within two weeks.
“There is no new information beyond what was announced on Wednesday,” the EDL source told us.