Bassil: We'll Topple Govt. if It Doesn’t Implement Electricity Plan
Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil on Thursday warned that the country will suffer “governmental and parliamentary paralysis if the dispute over the electricity plan is not solved,” noting that “the issue can be resolved in cabinet.”
“We will topple any government that does not want to implement the plan,” Bassil vowed.
At a press conference he held to discuss his plan, the minister noted that “the electricity plan, with all of its technical and financial aspects, is clear, but it is facing political disapproval,” wondering “whether the (parliamentary) minority has sympathizers in the government.”
Despite holding four sessions to discuss Bassil’s plan, the government has failed to reach a final agreement on the project, under which $1.2 billion would be earmarked to build plants that would produce 700 Megawatts of electricity.
Bassil warned that failure to adopt the plan would “deprive people of seven hours of power supply daily and the treasury of $460 million,” noting that “the demand for electricity is on the rise and the problem is aggravating every year.”
“Blackouts could last for 15-16 hours daily in summer 2013 if the electricity plan was not adopted, Bassil said, adding that “we’re not asking for extraordinary powers, we’re just saying ‘implement the law’ and those who want to deprive the minister of some of his powers must first amend the constitution.”
over 12 years
This idiot and his moronic father-in-law should take a hike. I am sure if they approached it in a professional and thorough manner the project could be implemented. A project of this magnitude should have participation and oversight by various areas of the government to hopefully keep everyone honest and avoid a misuse of funds.
I was always suspicious of Aoun and the past few months have heightened my suspicions.
over 12 years
I don't like the language this guy uses ..... Not professional at all! He can argue his case more professionally and shows absolute transparency in implementations.... Then we are all ears
over 12 years
This idiot and his moronic father-in-law should take a hike. I am sure if they approached it in a professional and thorough manner the project could be implemented. A project of this magnitude should have participation and oversight by various areas of the government to hopefully keep everyone honest and avoid a misuse of funds.
I was always suspicious of Aoun and the past few months have heightened my suspicions.
over 12 years
to the guy screening my comment on nahar net. remember i got my comment on cnn . facebook and twitter. and aljazeera plus lebanese forces. and many other places. i say it again assad's money is frozen aoun wants to get the money indirectly to him so he can pay the russians and chinese to keep blocking nato from attacking him. i win
over 12 years
He is an absolute disgrace and I pity the Lebanese people.
over 12 years
if we spend the $1.2 billion on this project and life is wonderful and Mir. Basil got his few hundred millions in his pocket then what . let's think of Hezbollah attacking Israel and the war is going on and the Israelis bombed these electric plants how do we pay to rebuild them ? . let's make sure Hezbollah is not a danger to Lebanon first and then think of spending money we don't have on projects we can not protect it is sort of the " horses before the carriage kind of idea "
over 12 years
DISGUSTING
Even Mugabe would not have done that.
It is hard to believe
It is hard to imagine that a minister would destroy his own government if his fishy washy plan is not approved.
He wants out let it be but DO NOT THREATEN destruction . One should know that it falls on your head....
Too much to imagine that such characters exist.
Sad Lebanon
over 12 years
hum, 2013, election year!
over 12 years
... and that's when the princess discovered, to her horror, that frog was realty just a frog and no amount of kissing was gonna turn it into a handsome prince.
over 12 years
U dont need to do anythin more than looking at this guy's graphs in the background to see what a scam he's trying to do! straight line copy pasted graphs for 2012 and 2013....looks like a grade 5 presentation. PATHETIC
over 12 years
..check his plan, he claims to generate 12% of the electricity from renewable energies within 2 years, this is as much as what a country like France generates from renewables.....which took them more than a decade to achieve! he pretends he can do it in 2 years? or he thinks we're stupid, or like its' obvious, its a bogus plan! actually both, he thinks we are stupid and for sure its a bogus plan. then he threatens to bring down the government. what can we say, we need a REAL REVOLUTION in this country once and for all, but it cant happen, thanks to sectarianism...
over 12 years
hans christian andersen ,
you are so wrong my friend.... the princess, while thinking the frog was a frog, later realised that the frog is nothing more then a mutant half donkey half snake
over 12 years
He learned well from being in business with the Hezz. Do it our way or we will collapse the gov't. It suits the Hezz that the idiot monster they created would turn on them.
over 12 years
The more threats they dish out himself and his father in law the more desperate they are for the money! just send him to his uncle Bashar...with his father in law Aoun.
over 12 years
Jebran will do what he's masters tell him,so please Mr Bassil spare us your diatribe, you have made it very obvious your all bark and no bite.Yourself and your incompetent party will resign when you are instructed to.Please stop deceiving yourself and your ignorant supporters.
over 12 years
it's so nice to see how much TRUST there is on this thread. the guy made telephone communications cheaper and sahnaoui allowed internet to be finally faster and cheaper so when they got a plan to improve electricity, suddenly the parliament and a big amount of lebanese are accusing FPM of fundraising money for syria...
you guys enjoy paying 100$/month to your mafiosi generator owners and alf mabrouk.
over 12 years
@Gabby
I totally agree...tired of this M8 way of making politics "either my way, or the highway"...
Middle ages....dark times....
over 12 years
Joseph, i agree that the prices for calls and internet have gone down, but that in no way is an achievment. Instead of raking in 300% profit, they only rake in 100% profit now. there was no work needed to be done (and we still pay more than most other countries)
that was merely paperwork. building power plants is not. it takes 3 years to build a 100m bridge in lebanon, and he plans to generate 700MW in a year and a half..shou mjedib ne7na?
why doesnt he propose a law to regulate prices on generators while they work out an actual plan instead of a ponzi scheme?
over 12 years
Why they dont fund the people to have clean energy, like wind and solar.
This energy can be sold back to the public use and can be more affordable.
This what the US is doing andmany other states who have a real value for people.
over 12 years
it doesnt take so much to build a plant, get the different pieces on site, assemble them, build warehouses and a few offices, and connect to electricity network.
it's more than doable in a year and half
over 12 years
I would like you to name one structure in lebanon that was built in a year
over 12 years
I don't want to argue whether he is right or not as I haven't been following this story. All I can say is his father in law and he sound like 2 spoiled kids who want to do everything their way or won't play. They have a lot to learn if they want to be practicing politics especially in a country run by thieves and liars
over 12 years
@earious
Could you please stop your non sense. Pemits, biddings, excavations, construction and the related difficulty of such a plant require many years. Give or take 3-4 if you're really fast.
over 12 years
@earious...you really lack this big "S" before your name...
over 12 years
He did such a wonderful with the cell phone service, right?
He reduced the per call rate, right? ...
But calls got dropped constantly in mid conversation and as a result the overall bill went up because THE INCOMPETENT IMBASSIL OVERLOADED THE SYSTEM WITH MORE SUBSCRIBERS IT COULD NOT HANDLE! ONE WAY TICKET!
over 12 years
ça ne sert a rien de menacer de demissioner s'ils ne le font pas, en plus à leur place j'accepterais de mettre les procedures de controle les plus dures possible, pour que l'experience puisse se generaliser au futur et ne pas donner l'impression qu'ils cherchent à voler eux aussi.
over 12 years
My above mentioned nickname is what I do for a living. I have written and published about renewable energy and Alternative energy plant implementation and particularly in 3rd world countries. But most of all, what I have done, and I am sure no one who has actually commented on this page (whether pro or against Gebran Bassil) has done, is READ the 200+ page book-plan released by the Ministry of Electricity and Water. This project costs a lot yes, but it is of the utmost professionalism this country has yet to witness. Stop whining and making up stories for political purposes and use your brains. Maybe if you all start doing that the way some ministers are, this country will eventually get better..
PS: The book clearly and transparently shows where every single Lebanese Lira is going into the project. For God's sake: Read it, use your brains, and then think about the verbal attacks you are launching and if they really serve the country you pretend to love.
over 12 years
"Bassil: We'll Topple Govt.".. NO YOU WON'T!
Mother Syria put a lot of hard work into ordering the birth of this government to see it fall because a midget like you and your father in law need to get rich quick!.
President Bashar needs his local employees to defend him at the UN and in other international forums when no one else would.
Cheers.
over 12 years
Ya Bassil, kids like you should be in bed now and asleep.
over 12 years
PhD Alternative Energies if you'd taken your head out of the compost bin and bothered to read the comments of Bassil's opposition and his allies own allies in government and Parliament you would have noticed the problem was not the plan in it's the itself, it's the way the founds are going to be allocated and who is going to oversee the spending.
Bassil's own father in law spent the past six years screaming that the Parliament responsibility is to watch how the government as a whole and it's ministers as individuals spent the citizen's cash. But as it's always with Aoun the rules change when it comes to him and all the rest are corrupt crooks if they disagree.
over 12 years
How the hell did you let this loser marry your daughter GMA??
over 12 years
If she has her father goodlooks than that's no mystery.
over 12 years
So Mr Bassil, either we let you rob us or you will disrupt our government? Seriously? I make difficult decisions all day long so his one is a no brainer, NO, you cannot steal from us anymore and please DO disrupte this government which we all know is two thirds Iranian and one third Syrian.
Liar. Liar. assad's money is frozen all over the world. he ordered you to get him the money so he can pay the russians and chinese so they can block nato from attacking him. liar liar. whom are you fooling? there are more priorities than electricity. the army should get the money first .