11 August 2010
SIDON: Electricite du Liban’s (EDL) Sidon office is expected to crack down on electricity theft in the region as of Wednesday, local officials announced after discussing limiting power cuts.
Mayors from the south Lebanon region of Sidon held a meeting in Majdalyoun on Tuesday, presided over by MP Bahia Hariri, in an attempt to identify the cause of unstable electricity supplies and find ways to remedy the problem.
Certain participants blamed electricity theft for the scarce supplies and stressed the need to end the situation.
The mayor of Darb al-Seem complained that electricity was being stolen from the village’s cables and taken to the nearby Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp. He blamed a “gang” for the theft and said gang members were selling the illegally obtained power to camp residents.
EDL’s Sidon office is expected to address the issue and crack down on violations starting Wednesday.
Several calls were then made to Palestinian Armed Struggle leader Mohammad Abdel-Hamid Issa, who showed his willingness to cooperate with EDL and the police.
Other ideas were tackled during the meeting such as replacing street lights with an energy efficient lighting system and using power-saving light bulbs, sensors or solar energy.
For her part, Hariri emphasized the need to raise awareness about saving energy.
“Just as official authorities are responsible, we are also responsible in terms of raising awareness about power consumption in homes, institutions and streets that are under the supervision of municipalities,” she said. “This will reduce pressure on the electricity network.”
Engineer Moustafah Hijazi confirmed the need to save power and stressed the importance of an energy-saving project, adding that such a project should be studied in detail by the Sidon municipality.
The participants demanded that the Water and Energy Ministry start replacing lights in houses and on the streets with more efficient lighting systems.
They also urged generator owners to supply electricity continuously during Ramadan.
Copyright The Daily Star 2010.
