Electricity crisis in Lebanon
Electricity crisis in Lebanon |Electricity crisis in Lebanon a country where electricity is stolen to survive. The next day everything is turned on at the same time. This has been happening in most Lebanese homes, including their home, for the past 10 years. On, off – Off, on. Lebanon’s national grid can provide only half the electricity the people need. Demonstrators want this system abolished. He suspects that the power shortage benefits many politicians who have ties to private generator operators and benefits those who fail at the national grid. Most Lebanese pay two types of electricity bills. The situation is traumatic for Muhammad, a 73-year-old retired driver, and Muhammad suffering from chronic lung disease. He lives with his wife and five daughters in Tripoli, the country’s second-largest city. It’s crazy to think we’re in 2019 and still have no electricity for three hours a day, said Lara Kies, 33, who helped organize the protest camp. This shortage of energy is due to the lack of investment in power plants in the country during the last several years and this happened because the country was difficult to make decisions regarding strategic plans due to the division of power between the two major religious communities and the complex political system.
They say ‘I can’t turn on the air conditioning. I can’t heat the water. I can’t even pump water in my apartment. The last two months of protests in Lebanon have led to a steady supply of electricity amid significant demands. This demand has brought millions of protesters to the streets and forced the government to resign. The state’s energy company, EDL, is the target of protesters’ outrage. Young protesters have camped outside the company headquarters in Beirut.
One for EDL and the other for private generator owners. When the power goes out, these people switch to private electricity, which is very expensive. And it’s technically illegal to run private generators. This means that these suppliers should have a political shield. Some of the generator owners in Tripoli are former Malaysian leaders who defended their communities during the deadly sectarian battles between 2011 and 2014. This is a time when the Sunni Muslims and the Alawi minority were interconnected.
City councilor and former political activist Shadi Nishaba says, ‘After the clashes ended, these people were allowed to run private generators.
He said in return, security forces wanted these generator operators to provide free electricity to some communities to ensure their loyalty to the government in the elections. But many others are getting free electricity by stealing. It is estimated that half of the EDL’s electricity supply is stolen and this further explains the decline in investment funds. There are electricians who claim to be Robin Hood, trying to stop illegal activities. In areas where people do not turn off the lights, they cut off their electricity and pass it on to people who live in darkness.
