Bassil Warns Cabinet against Failure to Adopt Electricity Draft Law

Yes we know... It is a cabinet of pirates for the benefits of pirates... why stop at $1.2 billion, you can make a deal with Hizb and split an even bigger loot. Act quick because this cabinet is going down the drain along with the Assad's criminal regime...

This bill will cost Aoun the next legislatives. Stealing billions will not be unforgiven by his electorate.

simplest*

Maybe if people in dahyeh paid their bills instead of piggybacking, they wouldnt need to take the moneyy from the government :)

the solution is usually the siples one. but instead of proposing to enforce the LAW, gebran imbecile thinks its better to take more money, which eventually will be to the detriment of the lebanese people (except of course the people in dahye who are getting their support from iran, the same one who are not willing to pay the most basic utilities to their own government)

resistance my ass. bunch of invaders

@Mowaten
Here we go again...bla bla bla...
I have exposed enough proof and posted 5 sources of articles and studies on the mater. Rudy is right, the non collection, and non billing of electricity represents Billions over the last 30 years...READ...OR READ AGAIN!

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/13174-electricity-draft-law-tests-cabinet-unity

First of all, it is not a sectarian argument. it so happens that lebanon is split that way, but this does in no way attack a group for their religion. It's about what they do. Dahyeh may not be the only area where this is going on but it doesnt mean the other areas are that different.

If you were to pay that 50$ to EDL, you and every other person in the country who is connected to the electricity that the lebanese governbment is providing, without actually resorting to taking other people's electricity (that they pay for) then EDL would have its own money. it would be, big shock, a government utility company. it's a proven model you know. we are not the first to have electricity in the world.

of course it wont be in a day, but for a group of people who mainly used debt as a weapon to discredit the others, it's A BIT hypocritical to ask for $1.2Billion, with complete discretion and unaudited.

the big question no one has asked is why unaudited? whats to hide?

What does the proposal say about future collections, what will be done to ensure bills are paid fairly by everyone receiving electricity? do you think any model is sustainable without taking into account this factor?

It is a company that needs revenues to keep operating. Without revenues, we will likely be back where we are today in a few years, except we will have a few power plants to maintain (or abandon), and additional debt and accruing interest.

Don't forget we are talking about areas where security forces are harrassed and stripped of weapons if they enter, where bill collectors are known to get beaten

I believe the proposal should be explained to the public in detail and let them choose, if only...

Guys,
The problem is not the audit for the 1.2bn$, since these are part of a bigger plan and this part has been already explained widely since 2010 even in the previous cabinet. So let those who claim for transparency on the funding of the project, have the guts to be honest for once and not hypocrits as usual, since they all know exactly how the money will be spent and it is all detailed in the project anyway.
The audit should be implemented on the expenditures not on whether the project should or not be ratified.
AND BY THE WAY, WHY THIS SUDDEN RELENTLESSNESS FOR TRANSPARENCY AND AUDITING WHEN THEY HAD ALWAYS REFUSED TO IMPLEMENT THE SAME WHEN THEY WERE IN POWER SINCE 1990, OR TO SAY THE LEAST, SINCE 2005????

Because when you lead the way screaming and shouting like the megalomaniac that he is calling everyone a thief and corrupt and animals etc, the least that is expected of them is to practice what they preach.

or else why wasn't it approved long ago like you are saying? or is michel aoun and his gang the only honest people?

I agree with everything you just said mowaten. When it comes to who is not paying, it is a bit from everywhere and not only dahyeh, although you have to admit dahyeh is its own secure area, flooded with billions of iranian funds.

You cannot decide to impose your own little state inside a country and hijack other resources.

As for the probably more obvious solution, regulate the generator electricity providers. they have become the real crooks and criminals taking advantage of the situation with no regard to the social conditions of the country. Start with that, then regulate EDL payment. Those who are not getting electricity will not be punished as they wont be paying anything.

and only then you can create new plants. you cannot expand a crumbling business. it's just foolish

Mowaten if you're tired of paying 4 times as much as you should there 's clearly something wrong! Is it due to the high cost of production, or is it that few are paying to subsidize those who are stealing electricity supplies and beating up the EDL collection staff?? So many reports have been written on the problems of EDL , not the least by the late deputy Pierre Helou. Nothing was ever done or could be done as long as you have a statelet called Hizbollah! An honest director general called G Moawad who had spent most of his life within the EDL walls was forcibly put on early retirement when a number of years ago he dared publish some of the names of those not paying their bills! So dont dream my dear Mowaten, the only driver behind state priorities and tenders is not the economic rationale, but the expected returns for those lobbying for them ! Everyone knows that the electricity territory is an exclusive hunting grounds for those who dont pay their bills.

@Mowaten
You're a jike as usual...
I am glad you found one word to comfort your opinion out of my 5 posts.

"I say haram, no matter if you're Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Druze, I wouldn't cut you the electricity if you couldn't afford to pay it" Feel free to pay electricity for whomever you want, but have you realised that this means that poor people must therfore pay for poorer! Your thoughts and logic are quite limited. Can you impose this on people de facto!!?!

You blame M14 when it is the gvt within that does not agree...basically, everyone seems to be against the plan...I wonder why?

@Mowaten, the plan is 5Billion. 1.2Billion is only phase one...
Do you really have all the information??

So do expect Iranian companies (or their shell screen companies) to win the tenders. The execution overcost will probably be 400 million which is the differrence in the range estimate , between the low estimate and high one (of course the job will go at the higher price due to the quality work and the higher spec) and then, you will pay 5 times more for your electricity my dear mowaten. This is one of the many sad stories this country is plagued with, whereas anywhere else in the world electricity is a gold mine and a cash cow (to the local government of course!)

last thing we need is a 1.2 billion dollar target practice for the israelis

Well million upon million can get you to a billion in no time.

Anyway, electricity is a basic public need which needs to be provided. people don't really care who provides it, but unfortunately i cannot endorse privatization in an atmosphere of corruption (every last one of them, do not tell me about a single exception).

Starting with what we have, the only chance for electricity to be provided is through long term reform. I mean seriously, 2013? jesr el dawra took 3 years or so to finish.

What is needed is an infrastructure for the project. enforcing the law is the main priority. as i said, if we get a power plant in every area of lebanon, we will still be where we are now in a few years. they are extremely expensive to run with increasing oil prices.

simply building power plants is not a solution. get things in order, guarantee everyone will be treated fairly, and most important, prove to the investor, the people, that their investment is safe.

or this might not be about electricty at all!!

aoun probably knows once bashar is out, he is pretty much screwed, so this time he's taking even more money before he goes into "exile". his family is larger now and none of them will be pleased with anything less than a sirloin for breakfast.

A minister does not warn......he details...explain....be transparent and do not threaten
The followers are the blind.....you are not to blame......they are sadly brainwashed and Lebanon pays the price..

Rudy you are living in LaLaLALA land,

"wait for reform and enforcement of the law"??? really you serious , I WANT MY ELECTRICITY NOW! regardless of who and what is running the show upstairs , whoever comes WILL NEVER CHANGE IN A 100 YEARS in this country get that in your thick skull enough of your bulls*t i've been hearing over and over form the likes of your kind! lebanon will always be in some sort of corruption for many long years to come , you mean to tell me i have to wait some 200 years till i "may" get electricty no screw whoeevr is blcking this law cause they are no better, i say pass on the lousy 1.2 billion cause its pocket money and give the people here the 24/7 they deserve!
the rest of you can philosophise all you want after, "auon did this, dahiye did that, for the love of God man please shut up! I want to live Now! cuase Now is all we've got!
come on you masochistic people lets see you show up in the streets for your basic rights instead of some slain cor politician!

To naharnet administrator: I posted a reply to the last comment by an. I would like to think it has stopped showing due to a technical glitch. these glitches are quite common and selective on this website.

so much for ethics and freedom of speech

Basil and Aoun should be locked up immediately before they steal mor emoney from us!

Slash, just tell me what you want man? really tell me your plan you want to unleash war on dahiye ,Dahiye is NOT the only place where you find I say again find cause not all don't pay the bills, all over lebanon from tripoli to all the other poor districts which make up a large portion of this country DO NOT pay their bills and MANY places in highjly develepoed countries do NOT pay their bills so please spare me your theatrics here and focus on the real issue at hand . LEBANON LACKS POWER factories, real ones!
so unless you are waiting for Dahiye to turn into a metropolitan sometime in the future so that they could start payin the bills, you will have to just lay back and relax and discuss solutions if you ever wish to write anything constructive, but i'm sick and tired of hearing this stupid broken record played back over and over again. and not passing on this bill is one of the most destructive things ever for a long time to come, cause i'm the one sitting here under candle lights

maybe you should read again then

@Mowatten
Sorry, you did not specify in your nickname: Mowatten ayya balad? La2inno wade7 mish Libnen.

In an unrelated story, imBassil's father-in-law, Michel dAoun (syndrome), waves a little yellow-and-green flag and warns Lebanese citizens against Failure to Adopt him as President. Now here's Tom with the weather…

you guys are funny as ireaded the posts all of you guys say lebanese lebanon libenen or whatever . but none of you spoke 1 or write 1 word in arabic ?
and i have a point here most of you guys attacking oan or basil but dont you think he have the right to take his chance? since 14 march took their chance since 1990 ? and nothing has been changed?