Outage on EDL network: Civil servants in Saida call for 'resolution of the problem'

BEIRUT — In Saida, as Lebanon has experienced a heat wave since last week, several civil servants called on the South Lebanon muhafez (governor) Mansour Daou, to take the necessary measures to "resolve the problem of electricity supply, especially given the expected rise in temperatures in the coming days," reported the state-run National News Agency (NNA).

Following a blackout on EDL's high-voltage network over the weekend, power outages are persisting in certain areas. The public provider announced that a failure caused by humidity and heat on its high-voltage network had disconnected the power plants from the grid. This afternoon, EDL announced that it had fixed the failure, implying that the electricity supply should gradually return to normal.

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Civil servants noted a difference in electricity supply in certain governmental offices, depending on the presence or absence of private generators. They therefore emphasized the importance of finding a solution to the issue, in order to allow civil servants "to carry out their duties in adequate conditions," according to NNA.

Some departments in the administration in Saida were forced to close until further notice. The affected sectors are education, civil administration and public works, according to the same source. The report added that "private generators made it possible to compensate for the absence of electricity in some offices."

The possibility that EDL and private generators could reduce power production due to the heat wave sparked a heated exchange on social media Monday between supporters of Energy Minister Joe Saddi (Lebanese Forces) and his opponents, particularly some supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement, which managed the same ministry for several years.