Ya Libnan

Bassil: water problem is much greater than the electric

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Protests against the power blackouts continued over the weekend … Yesterday Hezbollah and Amal closed the Airport road with burning tires and today they blocked the road that links al-Nabatieh al-Fawqa with the city of Nabatieh with burning tires.

The Beqaa region also witnessed protests at the Masnaa road but security forces soon intervened and reopened all the roads.

Energy Minister Gebran Bassil told the daily An Nahar Sunday: “We received the people’s message a long time ago and we are working tirelessly at the ministry to resolve the crisis.”

“We also received some politicians’ messages and we will work against them,” he added.

Bassil was quoted as saying ” those that are not paying for electricity are the ones who are protesting the most.” This was understood to read Hezbollah and Amal .

Bassil is the son-in-law of FPM leader Michel Aoun who is closely associated with Hezbollah.

Water problem is greater

Bassil is expected to inspect the Shabrouh dam in Kesrouan district where he is scheduled to discuss water issues in Lebanon “because the water problem is much greater than the electricity one,” he said.

According to Al-Hayat report that was published on Sunday, many officials believe that the energy crisis is expected to continue until the ministry begins implementing the maintenance plan in the electricity sector.

The plan was approved by Cabinet in June, but it can only be implemented once the state budget is approved in parliament.

A billion dollars have been allocated to the electricity issue in the budget.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri stated at an iftar Friday: “Some individuals have spoken of constructing gas power plants in the North and South. Former Prime Minster Rafik Hariri had proposed such a plan before Cabinet in 1996 and had it been implemented back then we would have avoided the problem we are suffering from today.”

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3 responses to “Bassil: water problem is much greater than the electric”

  1. Leborigine Avatar
    Leborigine

    Sebouh, I totally agree with you as I do on most of your and Tony A’s posts since Ya Libnan has allowed posts to be uploaded.

    Lebanon is a failed state because of the divisions and the aftermath of the civil war. Since 1975 till now, we have not had any opportunity to recover to our full potential. It is mentioned that the war ended in 1990, but in reality it has not ended. Fromm 1995 till 2005 we still had a foreign presence in our country and armed militias, so anyone in their right mind would not invest in the country except al marhoom Hariri. We have not had a proper government either, and please nobody tell me that lahouds government was legit, it was the worst 15 years in Lebanons history in my books. My point is the internal infrastructure has never been fully recovered, not everyone enjoyed the same luxury’s and having contacts was the only way to get things done. Fawda and corruption = failed Lebanese state.

    Ya haram Ya Libnan, Allah yise3dak.

  2. Walid Khouri Avatar
    Walid Khouri

    Now tell me how every time people dig to put structures they find abundant supply of water and wells and how on Earth we could have water problem. Recently, my brother in law, opened ground in Beirut’s suburb and he found an old Turkish well buried deep within the ground and despite the engineer’s efforts to contain the water with cement they had to use four pumps to keep the underground parking lot dry and that has been going on for more than a year. That is one story and I can tell you many others. Something is not computing really, we have water but we do not have a state. Now don’t get me started about electricity and renewable energy as we have plenty of wind and believe you and me more Sun than we need. Let’s not forget the gas off shore and our proximity to oil rich countries.

    Bassil was right on by saying ”those that are not paying for electricity are the ones who are protesting the most.” and we really know who that is.

    That being said, I will tell you the reason why the burning of the tires and why the road blockades.

    It really does not need a genius. The STL report is coming and they are just testing the water to see if the army would intervene in case of civil strife if HA is accused. Well don’t test the water, the LAFs cannot intervene as no army in the world will fight against its own people. But again no people in the world hijack a country and claim it is resistance.

    I think the resistance lost its GPS like Arafat before them, and went North instead of South. Burning tires causes more pollution and gives our kids cancers and lung disease. Can’t they just block the roads? burning tires “aa,l wulak leyk weyn ba3doun”.

    What a SHAME!

  3. Hala Avatar
    Hala

    as far as I see “the government’ is far too much of a generalization. There are 2 *types* of people in the government, those doing real work, like Bassil, and those sabotaging, like the apathetic old ruling class. That’s what the minutes of the parliamentary meetings, published monthly, tell us. It’s not the civil war that causes divides. Divides are along the lines of professional and personal ethics, and a social conscience. One side has it, and one side, happy to live off of deviated funds, doesn’t. Because objective, and specific, and factual would take us a long way in solving our problems in Lebanon, don’t you think.

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