Dec 01 2009 |
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Jrud Akkar protest forces EDL to grant extra power hours
01 December 2009
BEIRUT: Residents of the Jrud Akkar region in north Lebanon suspended their 24-hours protest in front of Electricité du Liban (
EDL
) on Monday when some of their demands were met after only two hours. The locals organized the protest to condemn the constant power cuts in the north, especially during Eid al-Adha. They headed to the offices of
EDL
in the town of Halba where they switched the electric power off for the entire region of Akkar in the presence of MP Khaled Zahraman and head of the Jurd Akkar Municipalities Union Sheikh Samih Abdel-Hayy.
EDL
however granted the protesters a number of additional hours of electricity supply for the area of Jurd al-Qatii which led the locals to suspend their strike and switch the power back on.
A meeting with the general director of
EDL
Kamal al-Hayek was also scheduled for Wednesday in Beirut to further try to solve the problem.
Nonetheless, Zahraman warned
EDL
that although the protest was peaceful future action may not be. He added that EDL’s pretext of power theft was not convincing and that the people were fulfilling their obligations but were still being victimized.
“They talk of theft in the electricity network. Let them bring security forces then to solve the problem because it is not the people’s fault. The citizens are fulfilling their obligations to the government and are paying their fees but they are still being deprived of electricity,” he said.
Abdel-Hayy reiterated the difficulties the people were facing because of the situation, saying students were even using candle lights to study. He also questioned whether political or religious reasons were behind this injustice.
As for
EDL
, it replied to the protest through a statement it issued the same day. It confirmed that the excessive power cuts in Jrud Akkar were due to intensive electricity thefts in the region.
“
EDL
has warned repeatedly of the negative effects of such actions on the company and on electricity supply,” the statement read. “However, our calls and our warnings were all in vain and the situation deteriorated,” it added.
The statement also condemned the locals’ protest and said it deprived the whole region of Akkar of electricity for more than two hours. It answered their allegations as well, saying
EDL
employees worked round the clock on Eid al-Adha on Friday to supply the region with electricity.
“The excessive electricity thefts are preventing the company from providing the region with enough power,” the statement added.
EDL
also said in its statement that security forces were called to bring the situation back to normal after the protest was suspended.
The statement added that the problem could not be permanently solved through breaking into the company’s offices but rather through helping to stop all electricity thefts. – The Daily Star
© Copyright The Daily Star 2009.
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