Lebanon’s caretaker Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar revealed on Tuesday that its ministry cannot pay for fuel to generate electricity beyond March.
“We are headed towards a difficult situation, if there is no fuel there will be no electricity,” Ghajar told Reuters.
According to Ghajar, unless more financing is approved, the crisis-ridden country will face even more power cuts for several hours each day.
At this stage, the minister needs the state’s approval for an emergency loan of 1,500 billion LBP ($996 million at the official rate) to buy fuel.
His request has been submitted to the three main decision-makers in the country: President Aoun, caretaker PM Hassan Diab, and Head of the Parliament Nabih Berri.
This comes after the public was assured back in mid-December that Lebanon has a year’s worth of fuel for electricity,
“The amount of fuel could suffice for Lebanon until the end of 2021,” MP Nazih Najem, the chairman of the Public Works, Transport, Energy, and Water Committee, was quoted saying in an interview with Al-Jadeed.
That reassurance was followed days later by a statement from the Energy Ministry Ghajar to LBCI that “there will not be darkness in Lebanon” and that there is no need to worry about Lebanon losing its electricity as there are at least four solutions under study.
These reassurances from the officials didn’t last. Lebanon is heading to more darkness starting April if the state doesn’t prompt to approve the loan for the Energy Ministry to provide the country with electricity.
Meanwhile, residents, both in cities and in the countryside, are already struggling with multiple electricity power cuts.
Unless they are financially capable of purchasing a private generator, most are left to continue on with their day through the dark.
