Electricity Crisis Tops Cabinet Session as Officials Seek a Way Out

The cabinet is scheduled to convene on Wednesday with a crowded agenda with the electricity crisis expected to top the discussions.

An Nahar newspaper reported that Energy Minister Jebran Bassil, Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's advisor Hussein Khalil held a meeting on Wednesday night to coordinate the stances before the government session.

The daily said that the electricity crisis might not be tackled during the meeting that will be held at the Baabda Palace as a consensus between all parties emerged to the surface as all sides agreed on leasing the power-generating vessels for a limited time along with building new power plants, thus approving Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Bassil’s projects.

“We are working on drafting a solution that would find consensus by all parties, by taking a decision at the cabinet that approves the leasing of the power-generating vessels and building new power plants,” Miqati’s sources told An Nahar.

He argues in a report that the establishment of a power plant takes a year and would cost maximum 480 million dollars for at least a 25-year service, while Bassil’s proposal suggests that the two companies that have won tenders, a Turkish and an American company, would provide power through ships and would cost the state around $1 billion for a period of five years without the expenses of the fuel oil.

The premier hailed Bassil’s stance, which he announced during a press conference on Tuesday, saying that “he will be open towards any positive solution.”

The energy minister rejected the abandonment of his proposal to lease power-generating ships, saying that such a measure would lead to a “catastrophe” in Lebanon.

The minister said during a press conference after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “A solution, which we think is logical and fair, lies in leasing the vessels and constructing new power plants.”

Miqati said in comments published in As Safir newspaper that he is firm on two principles, the first would be providing Lebanon with power 24 hours a day and preserving the state’s treasury.

Asked if the cabinet will vote on the two projects during its session, Miqati said that “the technical aspects shouldn’t be submitted to vote, but we should refer to logic… Anyway the president is the one who has the right” to decide the appropriate solution.

Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi, who is loyal to Miqati but voiced his support to Bassil’s project, told An Nahar newspaper that he submitted a new report to the cabinet regarding the leasing of the power-generating vessels.

According to the report, al-Safadi argues that the committee that was formed to study the matter, was only tasked with studying the leasing of the power-generating ships and not drafting a strategy for the electricity crisis in order to provide the country with electricity 24 hours a day.

Al-Safadi noted that leasing the vessels will not increase the financial burden on the state budget as the power cuts due to the rehabilitation of the Zouk and al-Zahrani power plants would increase to 13-15 hours per day, noting that they would cost less than 15 percent of the price of building two power plants.

Meanwhile, Minister of Administrative Development Mohammed Fneish slammed the dispute between Miqati and Bassil.

“We should be seeking to provide Lebanon with electricity… It’s a shame that the matter turned personal,” Fneish told An Nahar.

He said that Hizbullah didn’t decide yet on a stance as it is waiting to see the progress of the contacts.

Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi al-Aridi, who is loyal to Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, told An Nahar that the officials didn’t find a solution yet to the crisis.

However, al-Liwaa newspaper reported that the cabinet, which will tackle 80 articles on its agenda, might not discuss the electricity crisis in an attempt to avoid widening the rift between the cabinet members as all parties are keen to safeguard it.