UNICEF did raise the alarm back in August that Lebanon is in danger of losing critical access to water if immediate action is not taken.
The warning went unheeded by the state, as was the previous warning in July that 71% of Lebanese people could run out of clean water by the end of summer.
The unresolved fuel crisis has already brought several water supply stations in Kessrwan, Chouf, and Aley to shut down several weeks ago, as a newer crisis comes to add to the Lebanese hardships.
Now, the Lebanese are being informed that the water supply to Beirut and Mount Lebanon governorate has decreased by 40% to 50%, due to the electricity and diesel crises.
That is according to the Director-General of the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Water Corporation, Jean Gibran, during a televised appearance.
The crisis of the devaluation of the Lebanese Pounds is also hitting the water supply operation. Maintenance contractors demanding to be paid in dollars has brought the maintenance of this vital supply to decrease by 80%, as Gibran explained.
It is also crippling the establishment’s human resources.
Some employees are leaving their job as their LBP salary is barely equaling $100 per month. In addition, employees attendance has decreased by 50% due to the shortage of fuel to commute, according to Gibran.
He called for collective cooperation to help each other by raising the subscription fees, “otherwise the water institutions are going to collapse.”
He stressed the need to increase the water fees from 300,000 LBP to at least 600,000 LBP, “even if this percentage is not enough.”
According to a study the water establishment conducted, the water meter should be 2,250,000 but that won’t be applied as the Lebanese can’t cope with the cost of that increase in supply amidst the ongoing dire situation in the country.
It is to note that 70% of Lebanon’s freshwater sources are contaminated by sewage from homes and businesses; an issue that has remained untackled by the authorities to date.
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