When Energy Minister Gebran Bassil announced his blueprint for electricity reform, he started his presentation with the phrase “itafaqna,” or “we agreed.” Whenever our so-called leaders use this, something is not quite right. More often than not it hints at conspiracy rather than cooperation. And so, the worrying absence of a mechanism of private sector involvement in the draft proposal and only a hint of the creation of a regulatory body to see that the plan outlives the minister’s term came as no surprise. What was present, however, were clues that Lebanon’s future electricity had been ‘allocated’ along troublingly familiar lines, with proposed regional networks following the county’s traditional power bases.
We were told of plans to implement wind power (presumably in the north), waste power (presumably close to urban areas) and hydroelectric power (presumably in the south). A student of Lebanese politics 101 will tell you how that particular pie will be carved up. There was no mention of solar power, despite Lebanon being blessed with nearly 300 days of sunlight every year, but then again there was probably no political incentive.
Where does one begin? The obvious conclusion drawn by a reader unfamiliar with the way things work in Lebanon would be that this is a shocking conflict of interest. How can those who determine policy and represent our best interests be allowed to exploit national assets for personal gain at the expense of those they serve? In truth, the notion of separating political and economic interests is too sophisticated for a nation that, despite its outward worldliness, is still a feudal backwater.
Executive may be a voice in the wilderness but we will use it anyway. If the government wants to behave like a government, it must ensure that any PPP, or Public Private Partnership, be conducted with utmost transparency and be listed on the Beirut Stock Exchange, allowing the public the right to a share in a national utility.
The electricity sector must not be allowed to turn into an opaque entity that sells power to the state, which in turn levies crippling taxes and pockets the proceeds, which in turn get mismanaged… in the dark.
