Électricité du Liban headquarters in Beirut. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati demanded Lebanon's Central Inspection Bureau launch an immediate investigation into the nationwide power outage in Lebanon that started Saturday.
In a letter sent to the head of the Central Inspection Bureau, Mikati said the move comes after a series of meetings between the energy minister, the chairman of Electricite du Liban (EDL), and other officials to address the fuel shortage crisis impacting electricity production "due to the delay in the arrival of Iraqi gas oil for technical and logistical reasons."
"Since the Iraqi fuel oil contract is currently the only source for supplying fuel to the Electricite du Liban Corporation, we have reached a formula according to which the corporation intends to pay the value of the special credit through a tender previously launched by the Ministry of Energy, in addition to paying a portion of the state’s accumulated dues for the benefit of the Iraqi side," Mikati claimed in the letter. He did not provide further details on the formula reached.
Despite that, the EDL board failed to convene and implement the necessary decisions, Mikati claimed. The prime minister has now ordered an investigation into the "negligence" that allowed this crisis to occur, with the intent of holding "those responsible accountable."
Lebanon experienced over the weekend a complete state-provided electricity blackout, after exhausting the fuel reserves allocated to the country’s power plants.
The last operational production unit at the Zahrani power plant in the south was shut down on Saturday. However, it was announced early Sunday morning that the supply to this plant had been secured by nearby oil facilities, while the caretaker energy minister stated that it would be back in operation by Sunday at midnight, albeit operating at a lower capacity.
Algeria said it will 'immediately' supply fuel to Lebanon to operate the country’s power plants and ensure the supply of electricity.
Meanwhile, the head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir, Geagea, in a post on X on Monday, accused the Lebanese government of committing "minor treason" by depriving the Lebanese citizens of the few hours of electricity that were previously guaranteed to them.
"The electricity crisis that the country has been experiencing in the last two days is not the first of its kind, and it demonstrates indisputably that the management of the electricity sector as it has been for 15 years until today is a complete failure and there is no indication that this management will change," Geagea added in his post.
"I call on the head of the parliamentary committee for public works, MP Sajih Attieh, to expedite the discussion of one or more draft laws to involve the private sector [in the electricity production process], and send them to the joint committees as soon as possible," Geagea said. "Accordingly, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is requested to call for a legislative session under the item of extreme necessity, because bringing the Lebanese citizen out of the darkness is the utmost necessity."
