Cabinet's Political Bickering Continues on Thorny Electricity Issue
Political bickering on the controversial electricity issue during a cabinet session triggered counter-accusations on Wednesday between Energy Minister Jebran Bassil and Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi, reports said Thursday.
Bassil accused the Finance Ministry of failing to provide the cost for acquiring the power-generating ships that were expected to arrive in Lebanon from Turkey in October to limit the power rationing in the country.
On his part, Safadi assured that the necessary funds have been allocated for that purpose “a month and a half ago,” and that Electricity du Liban is to blame for not opening a bank account for the funds transfer.
Bassil in turn replied that the finance minster should have informed EDL of the necessary measures for that purpose.
Bassil had signed in July a three-year contract to lease power-generating vessels from Turkey’s Karadeniz company.
The first ship was expected to arrive in Lebanon on November 11.
The cabinet had agreed in March to lease the ships that would help provide 700 megawatts of electricity for a period of three years.
Lebanon has long suffered from electricity outages because of shortages at its power plants whose maximum capacity is less than 1,500 megawatts but the country’s actual need exceeds 2,300 megawatts.
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