Caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad has stressed on the sidelines of an energy conference in Jordan that Lebanon needs “before Summer” the approval on a deal that will supply Lebanon with electricity from Jordan through Syria.
“We need to get the approval before Summer,” Fayyad said, as he asked Arab and foreign countries for help in gas and fuel supplies.
Lebanon prepares to receive, in the coming months, between 10,000 and 12,000 passengers a day, or about 1 million passengers over the next three months, according to caretaker Minister of Tourism Walid Nassar.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati had blamed Fayyad during a visit to the airport on Wednesday when a reporter asked him about the power crisis that might persist through the hot tourist season.
Fayyad for his part said that the electricity deal hasn’t been approved by the U.S. yet and that the World Bank, which will fund the project, was “adding more conditions”.
He added that the U.S. had demanded reassurances from the World Bank that the deal will not violate U.S. sanctions that forbid financial dealings with the government in Damascus.
If approved, the deal will provide Lebanon with up to 250 megawatts of electricity during the day and 150 megawatts at night, equivalent to a total of two additional hours of power, according to Fayyad.