The public company Electricité du Liban (EDL) announced Saturday, January 8 that its power plants were shut down, accusing protesters of being responsible for this new blackout by having sabotaged the network. Public electricity is already cut for at least twenty hours a day in Lebanon due to a fuel shortage linked to the country’s economic collapse.
On Saturday, demonstrators outraged by the cuts rushed to an EDL distribution center in the Aramoun region, north of Beirut, EDL said in a statement. “This disrupted the electricity network (…) causing a complete blackout across Lebanese territory at 5:27 pm (3:27 pm GMT). “
Overpriced private generators
The cuts have paralyzed the lives of the population and several vital sectors for months, while the managers of private generators, who generally take over, are also rationing businesses, hospitals and homes, as fuel becomes scarce.
Now, the average monthly electricity bill for a Lebanese family using a private generator exceeds the minimum wage of 675,000 Lebanese pounds (about $ 22), as the local currency has collapsed against the greenback on the black market.
EDL, symbol of the country’s mismanagement
Lebanon, whose ruling class is accused of corruption and incompetence, has suffered for decades from rampant electricity underproduction and mismanagement of EDL that has cost the treasury more than $ 40 billion since the end. of the Civil War (1975-1990).
The international community is calling for urgent reforms from the authorities, in particular for the EDL, a symbol of bad governance and the decay of the country’s public services. Lebanon negotiated in the fall with Egypt and Jordan for the delivery of gas and electricity via Syria, while the Shiite movement Hezbollah announced several deliveries of Iranian fuel to alleviate the shortages.
