Fuel Crisis Reaches Catastrophic Levels, Vital Facilities In Lebanon Stop Operation

Illustration of demonstration in Lebanon. (Wikimedia Commons/Freimut Bahlo)

JAKARTA - The Lebanese authorities issued a warning that the full operation of various vital state facilities within 48 hours has been issued, as the national diesel fuel crisis has reached catastrophic levels.

Long queues at gas stations, bakeries, and pharmacies appeared across Lebanon on Friday. Meanwhile, residents choose to sleep on the roofs of their buildings amid blackouts and the absence of diesel to run their personal generators.

One state facility that has barely escaped closure is Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, which benefits from a last-second diesel injection to help keep the lights on.

"Oil importing companies cannot deliver gasoline and diesel to the stations, because they don't know how to set any prices," said Georges Fayyad, who heads the Association of Oil Importing Companies in Lebanon, citing Arab News Saturday, Aug. 14.

"The central bank said it would adopt a black market exchange rate (20,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar) while the Energy Ministry is still adopting a rate of 3,900 Lebanese pounds to the dollar," he said.

The recent fuel crisis, one of the lowest points in the financial crisis that hit Lebanon in the last two years, caused the value of the Lebanese pound to fall by 90 percent.

On Thursday, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said he would not include mandatory reserves to subsidize fuel, unless parliament regulated it. As a result, oil-importing companies decided not to distribute fuel to stations until a price agreement was reached.

"The tug of war between the ruling authorities and the central bank has made the public, gas station owners, and the entire fuel sector tied up. As a result, residents suffer," explained George Brax, a member of the Gas Station Owners Syndicate.

Meanwhile, state-owned telecommunications company Ogero announced that it was suspending services in the Akkar region of northern Lebanon due to fuel shortages.

In addition to communications, Nasser Srour, secretary of the association of bakery owners in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, said he informed the economy minister of the closure of dozens of bakeries due to the fuel crisis.

Farid Zeinoun, Chairman of the Union of Workers and Distributors in the Gas Sector, announced that gas reserves were sufficient for five days while asking the central bank to allow gas tankers that had been at sea for 20 days, to dock and unload.

Separately, Communications Minister Talal Hawat denied rumors of the ministry's plans to permanently cut off Internet services in the country between 12 a.m. and 7 a.m. next month.

To note, demands to speed up the formation of a new government were the focus of Friday's meeting between President Michel Aoun and Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi.

Meanwhile, the ulama demanded a government made up of competent people, not party politicians. This government must be prepared to face difficulties and implement structural reforms in various sectors.