Regardless, there’s never enough juice to go around.
As a result, the vast majority of Lebanese homes and apartment blocks have generators to make up for the shortfall. Everyone pays a small fortune to some shady guy who hooks you up to the local machine.
It’s been going on for years.
But, after all this time, there’s suddenly a way to fix the problem inside of four years. Energy and Water Minister Gebran Bassil has rocked up and declared that all is well and that we’ll have 24/7 power inside of four years.
Ahem. Sure. This has been met with outright disbelief from many media sources. The Daily Star, Lebanon’s biggest English-language daily, called him a liar, pure and simple.
You’ll have to excuse the cynicism. Two nights ago I was putting the washing out to dry with the aid of a torch with a windable dynamo. Ah, the 21st Century, don’t you love it?
A Beiruti's best friend
lol - this reminded me of the situation in Zimbabwe. There, a dearth of foreign currency and an inability to produce enough electricity domestically (despite both a huge hydro-electric plant and heaps of coal) lead to district-wide scheduled load-shedding of 12 hours and more, up to 4 times a week, and unplanned power-cuts to boot. As a result, a booming trade in imported generators fueled by black market diesel quickly developed. Necessity's the mother of invention? (And who really needs the state to provide services, anyway....?)
ReplyDeleteAnd to think, the proverbial hits the fan in the UK whenever there's a single, isolated, powercut.
ReplyDeleteApparently there's also a huge diesel black market in Ireland, both North and South, that revolves around "red diesel". Red diesel is fuel that's earmarked for agricultural use and is dyed red at source.
It'll run your car, and it isn't taxed as heavily as normal diesel.
Hey, I could do with a few of those when I am stuck in the middle of nowhere with my ass in a sling waiting for a helo to pick me up. At least then I could see what work has actually given me to, rather than trying to guess by the taste and consistency!
ReplyDeleteWith regards to the diesel in Ireland, there are a few farms which have the storage tanks on the southern side of the border and the house on the northern. Means they can legally get the diesel without the tax.
What a winner!!!
It's all about the tax...
ReplyDeleteThumbs up @ beirut at night :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it TK. :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the blog.
It seems that a debt of 20 billion (take or add a couple) were not enough to cover the cost of fixing the power station, nor providing the country with electricity. Don't get me started on roads, governmental institutions, schools, hospitals, etc.
ReplyDeleteLebanon: Land of self sufficiency.
ReplyDeleteYou either laugh, or sink into rage.