Energy minister presses for justice in Zahrani case

Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said in a press conference on Monday that the Zahrani power plant incident is a tragedy and an attempt to sabotage the state’s institutions and attack Lebanon and citizens of the south.

During the press conference held to give details on why Zahrani plant operators halted work, Bassil stressed that the incident caused significant financial damage.

 “Electricity should not be a means to address political messages”, Bassil said, reminding everyone that “not even during the war was the power cut on purpose”. Bassil revealed that he contacted the concerned people and some officials to warn them about the gravity of the situation.

“I contacted PM Najib Mikati on Saturday to solve the problem, and we were able to reactivate the power plant and equally distribute electricity. We were also able to keep the 40 MW convertor in Sidon and the 20 MW convertor in Zahrani”, Bassil said.

Bassil stressed that security forces should meet his demands that aim at protecting the plant and prosecuting those at fault. Bassil urged EDL to press on with the measures taken against the perpetrators and the Malaysian contracting firm to assume its responsibility in this respect.