EDL General Manager Blames Contract Workers for Electricity Blackout
Electricite du Liban’s general manager Kamal al-Hayek held the company’s contract workers responsible for the blackout that plunged Lebanon into darkness on Monday.
The factories are not undergoing any “maintenance or repair as there are no decisions being taken, and no meetings held but only problems moving from a floor to another” at the company, Hayek told An Nahar newspaper on Tuesday.
He also pointed out that the delay in rehabilitating the Deir Amar power plant for 15 days is part of the problem.
Energy Minister Jebran Bassil has continuously warned that the electricity crisis in Lebanon might worsen as EDL's contract employees’ strike is affecting the company’s work.
Hayek warned that the electricity maintenance has been suffering from a complete negligence for the past two months, noting that the electricity rationing reached 11-12 hours in several areas across Lebanon and 21 hours in the Greater Beirut area.
He said that the heat wave also has a major effect on the power plants.
The contract workers had been asking for their rights by road closures and by blocking the entry of full-time employees to the premises of the EDL in Beirut’s Mar Mikhael area.
Last week, the joint parliamentary committees approved the employment of qualified candidates who are currently contract workers at EDL.
However, a member of the committee of contract workers said their sit-in at the company’s headquarters will continue pending parliament’s approval of their full-time employment.
Sources told al-Liwaa newspaper that the power generation units have disconnected from the distribution network for unidentified reasons, which caused the sudden blackout.
Asked about the increase in power rationing across Lebanon, the source said there are several reasons including the halt in electricity supply from Syria and Egypt that provided Lebanon with 250 megawatts.
The source noted that Lebanon requires around 2,600 megawatts during the summer but the production of the current power plants doesn’t exceed 650 megawatts.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/43919 |