Lebanon going dark

Naharnet claims today that Lebanon's power plants will be running out of fuel sometime this week, prompting more electricity rationing to all of Lebanon.

Two tankers loaded with fuel oil for the power stations have been waiting in Lebanese territorial waters for almost two weeks pending settlement of cost by the finance ministry, the source said.

The finance ministry refuses to settle the account before receiving a transaction from the power authority covering production costs for the past three months, the source added.

The power authority, however, has not managed to collect fees for its services from areas that are not under state authority, mainly regions controlled by Hizbullah "that is why it does not have enough revenue to cover fuel oil purchases for its stations," the source explained.

A statement released by Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa said police has not been able to prevent 160 illegal construction sites in Hizbullah-controlled south Beirut.

"If police cannot prevent illegal construction, and power authority fee collectors get beaten up while trying to carry out their duties in areas where they cannot have police protection, how would the power authority be able to cover its expenses?" the source asked.

I have a suggestion for you, mister Sabaa: How about you cut the power to those who don't pay up? Kinda like how the rest of the world does it? I'm pretty sure if I didn't pay my utility bills here in the US, the gas company, the power company and the water company would simply shut my utilities off. Why can't Electricite du Liban do that?
And please, don't give me the excuse of it "being politicized" or how such a measure would target the shia community, or any of those lame excuses. Apply the rule to everyone, shia or not. It's not my fault if it so happens those who refuse to pay are mostly from one sect. And if they do pay, no problem with them whatsoever.


It's a simple economical measure that has nothing to do with politics.