Blackouts Knocked Down Internet & Phone Lines In Beirut

Photo PHB/OLJ

If you’re in Beirut, you may have realized your internet and phone lines were down.

Apparently, Ogero’s Riad El-Solh station was out of service since 3 AM, causing internet and phone blackouts in the Downtown Beirut area.

In a tweet on Wednesday morning, Ogero CEO Imad Kreidieh blamed the malfunctions on power cuts and increased demand on private generators.

The Daily Star added that the internet and telephone blackouts are a result of the Finance Ministry’s failure to pay funds to Ogero to maintain its generators.

“We had a plan to do some maintenance and change some of the generators, but we didn’t get the funds for it from the Finance Ministry,” said Ogero’s press officer.

Back to Kreidieh, last week on the MTV show Sar El Wa2et, he warned Lebanon of the impending internet shutdowns should the power crisis continue.

No surprise, the power crisis is worse than ever. Even Zahle, which has had 24/7 electricity for years, is facing blackouts.

Lebanese people have been enduring long hours of power cuts for over a month now. The Energy Minister promised that the energy supply would improve, yet it has not.

In addition, it has been weeks since the government appointed a new team at the Electricité du Liban (EDL), with no improvements whatsoever to the electricity sector as of yet.

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Beirut in the dark DM for photo credit

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This week, some parts of Lebanon didn’t even have electricity from backup generators. Private generator owners are now threatening to turn off their engines completely in protest of the high price of diesel on the black market.

It all goes back to the fuel shortage in Lebanon. And that essentially goes back to mismanaging, smuggling, and, yes, corruption. It’s the domino effect problems leading Lebanon deeper down the rabbit hole.

And the people are still desperately waiting for the reforms that seem more and more every day like a fantasy of an elusive wonderland.

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