The Parliamentary Committee for Public Works, Energy, Transport and Water launched a workshop on Thursday to discuss the electricity issue. However, the final outcome remains unknown, as the Lebanese State does not seem to have resolved to seriously reform this sector.
In parallel, Lebanese Forces MPs submitted to the Chamber’s bureau a bill that involves the private sector in energy management, in order to ensure power supply to subscribers and reduce their electricity bills.
At the end of a meeting of the commission he chairs, which was attended by the caretaker Minister of Energy, Walid Fayad, MP Sajih Attiyeh indicated that the session was intended to kickstart a workshop on electricity. An issue he described as “shameful” insofar as, he stressed, the electricity sector “has swallowed up billions of the State budget with no results, since the citizen still has no power.”
He pointed to “too many political quarrels and overlapping of powers”, which, he said, had led “in large part to the bankruptcy of the State”.
Attiyeh revealed that a meeting will be held next Tuesday with specialists, “to develop practical recommendations, follow them up and implement them.” “We are still without electricity, which is an indicator of the scale of the reforms that need to be implemented in the country. We have set an objective and a program, and the issue will have to be resolved,” he added.
For his part, Fayad pointed out that an electricity emergency plan previews an increase of power production to 1,200 megawatts, which implies 12 hours of power supply per day, on condition that both, the Zouk and Jiyeh power plants, become operational as soon as possible.
Calling on the Ministry of Finance to facilitate matters and work in collaboration with the country’s electricity company, Électricité du Liban (EDL), Fayad said, “If they work together, the plants will be up and running in October or early November.”
On the legislative front, he noted that there should be no delay in approving the contract for fuel imports from Iraq, as “the conditions are excellent.”
Lebanese Forces Bill
In parallel, the LF bloc MPs, represented by Ghassan Hasbani, Antoine Habchi, Fady Karam, Ghada Ayoub, Razi Hajj and Nazih Matta, submitted a bill to the Chamber’s bureau authorizing the private sector to obtain licenses for the production and distribution of electricity.
Their approach, Hasbani said, is exhorted by the “failed official management” of the electricity file and the excessively high electricity bills.
The parliamentarians are proposing the participation of the private sector in power generation and distribution, by granting licenses to supply 10 megawatts or more of electricity. According to MP Habchi, EDL will have a pivotal role to play, as it will be responsible for “preparing contracts and specifications”.
The Council of Ministers will be responsible for accepting or rejecting license applications.
