Three unloaded oil vessels cost treasury millions due to political vendettas

Three unloaded vessels have been anchored at sea for ten days, awaiting written approval to unload and transfer the amount, costing the treasury millions due to political vendettas. From two weeks ago until today, we have witnessed a legal dispute over buying fuel for Électricité du Liban.

The two parties are competing: the Caretaker Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance on the one hand, and the Ministry of Energy on the other, amid disagreement as to whether the matter requires holding a cabinet session or can be passed by a decree to be settled later. 

In reality, the background is political, the essence of which is the dispute over the President's and the Prime Minister's powers.

On the twentieth of December, the Ministry of Finance asked the Ministry of Energy, which demanded the opening of credit in favor of Vitol Bahrain to purchase gas and oil, to raise the matter to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to issue a treasury advance.

Two days later, the Ministry of Energy requested approval to issue a treasury advance that would allow the opening of the credit mentioned above at a value of $62 million to avoid losses resulting from the delay in unloading the oil vessels and to secure the necessary fuel for the production plants of the Electricité du Liban.

It is only twenty-four hours until the exceptional approval came from the prime minister, provided that the matter is presented later to the first session of the Council of Ministers as a matter of settlement.

However, the procedure stopped after the Ministry of Finance responded, considering that Electricité du Liban must request the advance and that it needs a decree from the Council of Ministers.

Why was the advance obstructed? Rumors spread that President Michel Aoun's criticism of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during his television episode prompted him to ask the Ministry of Finance to stop it, so could that be the reason, or is it really related to the legal loopholes that the Finance Minister raised?

In conclusion, three unloaded vessels have been anchored at sea for ten days, awaiting written approval to unload and transfer the amount.

This has frequently been happening over past years, costing the treasury and thus people's money the consequences of not unloading the cargo, which is estimated daily at $54,000 dollars and has exceeded half a million dollars to date.

We are facing a scene in which there is a lot of political distress and a battle of powers, all of which do not concern citizens who only want lights in their homes.