LEBANON WATER SUPPLY CUTS AS FUEL SHORTAGE CONTINUES

Wed 25 August 2021:

Lebanon will not be supplying water to many areas across the capital city of Beirut and Mount Lebanon due to fuel shortages, water authorities said yesterday.

The Establishment of the Water of Beirut and Mount Lebanon (EBML) said in a statement that it was “compelled to implement a severe rationing programme in most of the areas within its jurisdiction, due to failure to receive diesel from local oil facilities to operate the water pumps.”

The North Lebanon Water Corporation also told the media that the electricity supply was “almost non-existent,” adding that there was a “difficulty in providing diesel fuel for the operation and transmission of electric generators belonging to production plants and wells.”

“Diesel shortage will negatively affect water production and distribution processes,” the public corporation pointed out.

For two years now, Lebanon has been experiencing the worst economic crisis in its modern history, suffering from shortages in fuel, medicine and basic commodities and foreign currency.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently warned that more than four million people in Lebanon may be exposed to severe water shortages, putting their lives at risk.

On Saturday, the Lebanese government reduced fuel subsidies, raising prices to 8,000 lira ($5.30) per litre, instead of 3,900 lira ($2.58) per litre. Fuel prices later surged 66 per cent.

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