Lebanon’s public utility company (EDL) has announced that its central stations have stopped operating, accusing protesters of sabotage caused by this blackout that plunged the country into darkness.
In Lebanon, power outages last at least 20 hours a day, as there is a shortage of fuel necessary for the operation of production plants, due to the economic collapse of the country.
Today, protesters, furious with the power outage, headed to an EDL central distribution station in the Aramun area, north of Beirut, the public company announced.
“Protesters disconnected a 150-220-kilovolt power transformer and cut off the high-voltage line connecting the Zahrani power plant to the Aramun distribution station,” the statement added.
“This caused problems in the electricity network (…) and complete blackouts throughout the region of Lebanon at 17:27 (local time and Greek time)”, noted EDL.
This new power outage will put even more pressure on private generators who are already struggling to meet demand.
Power outages have paralyzed the lives of Lebanese people for months, as well as many critical areas. At the same time, private generator operators are being forced to provide electricity in quotas to shops, hospitals and households.
The average cost of electricity for a Lebanese household using private generators now exceeds the minimum wage of 75 675,000 – about $ 22 (€ 19) – as the local currency has collapsed against the dollar on the black market.
Lebanon – whose political class has been accused of corruption and incompetence – has been suffering for years from endemic electricity shortages and mismanagement of the EDL, which has cost the state more than $ 40 billion since the end of the civil war. (1975-1990).
The international community is calling on the Lebanese authorities to proceed with immediate reforms in the EDL, which has become a symbol of mismanagement and the dissolution of the country’s public services.
In the autumn, the Lebanese authorities negotiated with Egypt and Jordan for the supply of gas and electricity through Syria, while the Shiite
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