The first investigating judge in North Lebanon, Samaranda Nassar, who ordered the Mseilha Dam to be sealed off in August 2024, questioned former energy minister Walid Fayad in the case of the Msaylha dam project.
Designed to hold up to 6 million cubic meters of water and supply villages in the region, the Mseilha Dam in northern Lebanon has faced leak issues since it was filled at the end of 2019. It has now been sealed off.
The Mseilha Dam
Few dam projects in Lebanon escape controversy. Located on the Jaouz River in the Batroun Caza in the north of the country, the Mseilha dam is no exception. Judge Nassar, ordered the dam to be sealed off in August 2024, although $64 million had already been spent on its construction, which began in 2014.
On her visit to the site, the Lebanese magistrate found the dam abandoned, filled with derelict construction equipment, and occupied only by a janitor and his chicken farm. The financial prosecutor’s office had referred the case to Judge Nassar to investigate suspected misappropriation of public funds.
Fayad was questioned for 2 hours and might be summoned for further interrogation according to Lebanese media
Nassar will also summon other former energy ministers, including Raymond Ghajar and Nada al-Bustani.
According to media reports, Nassar has charged the executive and consulting firms related to the project, including foreign companies, in order to determine how the $64 million dollars was spent.
The big lie: Gebran Bassil promised 24/ 24 electricity days after he was appointed the energy minister in 2011, but never delivered
Fayad, Ghajar, and Bustani are all members of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) which was founded by former president Michel Aoun and is currently being headed by Aoun’s son-in-law, former energy minister Gebran Bassil who held the post from 2011 to 2014 and promised 24 hour, electricity. After $60 billion in subsidies, the electricity company in Lebanon provides fewer hours of electricity than it did in 2011.
Ever since 2011 FPM monopolized the ministry and refused to allow any party to take it over