Bassil pointed out that “each an hour of private generator costs the citizen 20 times more than an hour of EDL power.” (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT —Head of the Free Patriotic Movement, former energy minister and sitting MP Gebran Bassil on Sunday accused Lebanon’s parliamentary deputies and central bank of bearing responsibility for the ongoing electricity crisis.
Here’s what we know:
• Bassil, whose management of the electricity sector in Lebanon when he was energy minister from 2009 to 2014 is directly implicated in the current disaster, accused the members of Parliament and Banque du Liban of causing the power crisis.
• “Every second of darkness and every penny more that the Lebanese pay are attributable to the deputies who lied to people and prevented Electricité du Liban from buying the fuel to run the power stations, which also need maintenance, and to BDL, which refuses to spend dollars from EDL funds to buy the equipment,” Bassil wrote on his Twitter account, adding, “Know, Lebanese, who plunges you into the dark!”
• Bassil also pointed out that “each an hour of private generator costs the citizen 20 times more than an hour of EDL power.”
• EDL presently provides little more than an hour or two of power per day to much of the country, leaving most residents reliant on diesel-run private generators to bridge the gap and keep fans, AC units and refrigerators running in the sweltering heat of summer. But the rising cost of subscriptions to private generators amid increased demand and severe diesel shortages has rendered 24-hour power either logistically impossible or simply unaffordable for many.