Free Patriotic Movement: Why Are the Zouk and Jiyeh Power Plants Still Shut Down?

The Media Office of FPM Head and MP Gebran Bassil issued the following statement: "After the failure of the current administration at the Ministry of Energy and Water became apparent to the Lebanese people, resulting in the shutdown of the Zouk and Jiyeh power plants and depriving them of the electricity supply they used to provide, attempts to mislead public opinion have resurfaced through the publication of false news claiming that we burdened the Lebanese state with financial costs regarding the establishment of these two plants, under the pretext of handwritten additions to the specifications document."

It added: "To clarify the facts, we wish to confirm the following:

Firstly: The amendments made to the contract in 2013 were carried out under explicit authorization from the Council of Ministers, limited exclusively to reordering the priority of documents to facilitate project financing, without any impact on technical specifications, cost increases, or changes to the implementation deadline. Most importantly, the contractor committed in writing, before commencing work, to full compliance with the specifications document approved by the Court of Accounts, without any modification.

Secondly: The real reason for the project's suspension and delay was the Ministry of Finance's refusal to pay the contractor's dues, contrary to the state's contractual obligations, which exposed it to claims for compensation before international references. The conclusive proof is that work resumed immediately upon payment of the dues, without introducing any new modifications to the contract, and the two plants were completed and put into service in 2017.

Thirdly, and most importantly: Lebanese judicial investigations, after presenting all evidentiary documents and facts to the judiciary, did not result in any indictment against us, nor did they establish any liability on our part in this file. Similarly, international arbitration did not impose any liability on the state arising from the aforementioned handwritten additions, but rather held it responsible for the consequences of delaying the payment of its financial dues.

As for the attempt to portray handwritten additions as evidence of forgery, it is an obvious attempt to distort the facts. Whoever writes additions by hand, in a visible and declared manner, acts with logic of clarity and publicity, not concealment and secrecy. He who has nothing to hide does not fear leaving his handwriting as a witness to what he did. The lesson remains in the content of those additions, their legitimacy, and their actual effects, not in the method of their recording."

The office affirmed that "the attempt to assign responsibility to those who sought to establish and complete the two plants, instead of those who previously obstructed the project and caused the state additional burdens, or those who currently caused the plants' shutdown, is merely a transparent attempt to reverse the facts and evade responsibilities. True accountability lies not in fabricating accusations against those who accomplished the plants, but in questioning those who hindered their completion yesterday, and those who stopped their operation today and deprived the Lebanese of the electricity they provided."

It concluded: "Finally, instead of digging up files settled by facts, judicial investigations, and international arbitration, and throwing accusations against those who worked to establish the two plants, let the current officials dare to answer one question:
Who shut down the Zouk and Jiyeh power plants, and why are they still out of service?"