THIS IS WHY WE BELIEVE THAT FIVE HUNDRED BILLION LEBANESE POUNDS CAN BE SAVED NEXT YEAR AT EDL

The audited accounts of EDL for 2001 have FINALLY been published. They revealed a net loss of 724 billion Lebanese pounds, or $0.4 billion US dollars.
With the skyrocketing prices of fuel, we have extrapolated the losses for 2007 and we estimate that they will reach during this year three and a half time that amount or nearly $1.46 billion US dollars.If the price of the barrel of oil remains at its present level of $90, the anticipated losses in 2008, if nothing is done to reduce them, are expected to reach $1.77 billion US dollars at least.
But what can we do about this, will you ask?
Many solutions have been suggested by the experts. Most of them require substantial investments. On the other hand if the government could, by magic, obtain the cooperation of the entire population in order to reduce the theft of current and the full collection of bills, the anticipated savings could well reach 250 billion Lebanese pounds. This amount has been confirmed in the Paris III report as well in the report presented by Minister Fneich in 2006.
One other way to reduce losses that has been inexplicably overlooked by mostly everyone, with the possible exception of the auditors, is the thorough control of the purchase, receipt, storage and consumption of fuel. This item represents in 2007 three times the amount of the sales of current. A fifteen per cent decrease in waste in the accounting for it would result in a saving of 250 billion Lebanese pounds.
This is what we have proposed recently in our comments on the Paris III Resolutions:

" In the process of introducing reform measures in the Administration some simple and relatively low cost initiatives can sometimes be more effective than the complicated management systems that are proposed. The case of the reform at Electricite du Liban is a good example in point. Huge sums of research money have been spent during the past ten years to find a solution to the skyrocketing losses of that institution without any significant results. Has anyone thought of looking for one of the major source of these losses? With the phenomenal rise in the price of the barrel of oil, fuel costs at EDL represent now more than three times the amount of the sales of current. If one intends to reduce costs at EDL this is the area one would have to look at. An accurate records keeping procedure, coupled with the installation of an imaginative software system, should normally be sufficient to accurately measure and performance-evaluate the usage of fuel in each turbine in the power plants, and the overall monthly consumption and costs. The question is why such an initiative has not been considered earlier?"
In conclusion we can safely say that 500 billion Lebanese pounds can be saved in 2008 in the following way:
1)Securing a full collection of electricity bills: 100 billion Lebanese pounds.
2) Eliminating theft of current by the installation of power meters and the cooperation of the population: 150 billion Lebanese pounds.
3) Monitoring and controlling the purchase, the storage and the consumption of fuel: 250 billion Lebanese pounds
Total savings anticipated: 500 billion Lebanese pounds.

The information that the Lebanese citizens need to have

CLICK ON THE STATEMENT ABOVE TO ENLARGE

Once all the above information becomes available, it will be possible to pinpoint the different causes of the deficit at the EDL and their separate impact on the total resulting loss.

Appropriate corrective action can be subsequently taken to reduce the losses.

E18 ELECTRICITE DU LIBAN (EDL)

1) THE LOSSES OF EDL - WHAT, IN YOUR OPINION, SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT IT?



The losses incurred by the EDL during the period 2004 to 2006 were as follows:

• Year 2004: 492 billion Lebanese pounds


• Year 2005: 833 billion Lebanese pounds


• Year 2006: 1,370 billion Lebanese pounds

2007: 2,184 billion Lebanese pounds

2) These results are frightening and the citizens are entitled to ask: "what is being done to stop the hemorraege?"

3) But first, the citizens are entitled to know why these losses are incurred and what is causing them:

1. Is it because the turbines are inefficient?
2. Is it because the price of fuel is going up?
3. Is it because the citizens are not paying their bills?
4. And, if all these causes exist, what is the proportion of each in this rising deficit?

5) We ask the government (the Ministry of Finance and the General Director of EDL) to give us the necessary information. Some of it was made public in 1997 and in 1998, then suddenly ceased to be published. Why?

6) We publish above a statement that should be filled in by the responsible officials in the government (Ministry of Finance and EDL). If it cannot be done, we would like to know Why?

7) Over the years, a number of foreign and local experts undertook expensive research and studies of the energy sector in Lebanon and proposed a great number of solutions to solve the problem of the high cost and inefficient supply of electricity. What has been done about this? Why the Ministry of Energy and the EDL do not publish, at regular intervals, say monthly, an update to inform the citizens about these projects?

7) Over the past fifteen years, many local and international experts have proposed different solutions to the problem of the electricity in Lebanon. Has anything been done so far? Why the Ministry of Energy and hydraulic resources does not publish, at regular periods, say monthly, an update on what our government is doing to "stop the financial hemorraege" and improve the electricity services to the citizens? We know that the country is currently going through an unparalalled crisis, but this should not prevent the Authorities from keeping the citizens informed.