Residents block roads in south Lebanon over power cuts

Protesters frustrated with long hours of power cuts blocked roads with burning tires in several parts of south Lebanon and Bekaa Wednesday. The road leading to Iqlim al-Kharoub was blocked, as was the highway from Tyre to Naqoura which was later reopened by the army. Civil Defense personnel were able to put out the burning tires. Shatila street was also blocked as well as the road leading to Tayouneh area. In the Bekaa, residents blocked the Jub Jennin road. Blackouts have lasted over 20 hours a day across the country since Monday following a malfunction in the Deir Ammar power plant. Electricite du Liban said Tuesday it resolved the problem, which had caused a shock that de-linked most power production facilities from the national electricity grid. EDL said power supply would start improving by the end of the week as maintenance work is completed but conceded that it would still be unable to provide 24-hour electricity. Prior to Monday’s malfunction, residents had been protesting against increasingly meager power rationing particularly in south Lebanon with some asking Energy Minister Gebran Bassil to resign. Electricity supply has been deteriorating across the country due to maintenance work conducted on major power plants, suspension of power imports from Egypt and Syria, and an ongoing strike by Electricite du Liban’s contract workers. In a statement, EDL said maintenance work on a turbine in the Deir Ammar power plant will be finalized July 3 so long as security concerns in Tripoli do not force employees to suspend work.