Government departments face power cut-off over unpaid bills

This is not the first time the Electricité du Liban (EDL) has threatened to cut off power to public administrations that do not pay.

However, this time, things are different as the decision came following a recommendation from the Ministerial Committee for Electricity and the approval of the Central Council of EDL.

In a final warning, the EDL informed all government departments of the necessity to settle their electricity consumption bills with the EDL in Lebanese Lira, not through zero-interest transfers to the EDL's account at the Central Bank of Lebanon, whether for overdue bills or new bills.

The EDL has given the government departments only one month to settle their accounts. 

However, according to LBCI, no concerned departments have contacted the EDL to schedule payments or installments.

Nevertheless, this does not diminish Electricité du Liban's determination to implement the decision this time. They consider electricity a commodity whose cost must be paid; the company cannot provide it for free.

The total amount due is over 900 billion Lebanese Lira or 17 million US dollars at the exchange rate of LBP 52,320 per dollar. Notably, government departments do not include these bills in their budgets.

Today, the EDL needs every Lebanese Lira and every US dollar of these funds.

So, will the campaign to collect these bills from institutions that once believed they were above the law succeed at the expense of the people?