BEIRUT: Lebanon's only operational power plant has been shut down, due to a growing political conflict between caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the rival Free Patriotic Movement, which controls the country's energy ministry. The threat of closure has plunged Lebanon almost completely into the dark.

After a dispute over advanced payments delayed gas oil shipments, the Electricite du Liban, also known as EDL, urged the authorities to resolve the situation by opening up credits needed to offload fuel ships.

The company's plea came after it was forced to close the Al-Zahrani site due to a shortage of gas oil, the fuel used to power the plants. According to the EDL, approximately 6,000 tonnes of fuel, which was still at the Deir Ammar power plant, could only be used for routine maintenance on the steam turbines at the facility.

Also Read: How Arabic literature consumption options are expanding thanks to e-books and audiobooks

According to a political source, a solution to the escalating political conflict is unlikely, further escalating the risk of government paralysis and threats to other vital services. Since 2009, the FPM minister is in charge of the Ministry of Energy.

To meet the needs of the EDL's generating plants, which provide one hour of electricity each day for various Lebanese regions, as well as additional hours for Rafic Hariri International Airport and important state facilities, the ministry has provided gas oil provided to the ships.

However, due to an inability to secure funding, the ministry is seeking a $62 million advance to buy 66,000 metric tons of gas oil. A shipment of gas oil that was scheduled to be unloaded in December of last year got delayed due to the treasury's failure to issue an advance payment decree.

Also Read:  'Our people will stop you if the UNSC won't' Palestinian envoy tells his Israeli counterpart

A decree issued in an emergency to make advance payments was rejected by Mikati. According to his advisor, Faris al-Jamil, any advance requires cabinet approval.

He continued by saying that the EDL had to specify how the advance would be repaid to prevent it from being added to other outstanding advances, which have so far cost the Lebanese government $40 billion.

Lebanon's central bank had asked the EDL for a written guarantee that it would be willing to return the money before the treasury advance was approved. However, the EDL did not include a commitment with its advance request.

The government dispute, which is getting worse, has made it difficult to request an advance as the FPM will not hold cabinet meetings as there is currently no president.

According to a political source, Mikati is being pressured by the energy ministry team to make decisions outside cabinet meetings, despite the fact that the caretaker prime minister wanted to establish his position by doing so.

Three gas-oil vessels are still anchored offshore, causing delays and resulting daily losses of $20k. Energy Minister Walid Fayed stressed that docking fines have already exceeded $300,000.

Ghassan Beydoun, the ministry's former director-general, stressed that the ministry was responsible for any damages the state suffered as a result of the fines.

According to him, the FPM ministers who took over the ministry were used to outsourcing and signing contracts without funding, for which the state had to pay huge fines.

The head of the body in charge of overseeing tenders, Jean Elih, claimed that deals involving the Ministry of Energy lacked a solid legal basis and that the ministers involved had broken the law to cover up their crimes.

Also Read:  Bilawal Bhutto again spews venom against India

An urgent trade union meeting held in Beirut on Thursday demanded that officials swiftly choose a president and begin an effort to save the country.

Representatives of the Teachers' Syndicate, the General Workers' Union, the Education Union, and the Free Trade Union demanded that officials who "fail to promptly fulfill their constitutional and national duties" be brought to justice.