beirut finance ministry building in dark ages
Sunday 6 July 2025
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Beirut: Finance Ministry building in dark ages

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice Beirut: Finance Ministry building in dark ages

Beirut - Agencies

It is hard to imagine how ordinary people cope with the relentless power cuts every day. But it is even harder to contemplate a vital government building experiencing three hours of electricity rationing. But such a situation is exactly what taxpayers, bearing invoices and documents, encounter when they flock to the Finance Ministry’s revenue department on Beshara Khoury street only to find out that there is no electricity in the building. But unlike other governmental premises, this building has no back-up electricity and no private generator; meaning work is brought almost entirely to a halt during the daily power outages. The building houses offices for key Finance Ministry departments, including both income and real estate taxes. “Tell the officials we need generators; the power cuts are forcing the ministry to shut down completely,” said a frustrated ministry employee. After The Daily Star made inquiries with senior Finance Ministry officials, a source close to Minister Mohammad Safadi contacted the newspaper to say that acquiring a generator would be a top priority in the coming few days. “The landlord will not let us install a generator inside the building. We may consider putting the generator in a location close to the building,” the source said. Another source said the ministry had made arrangement with Electricité du Liban to restrict cuts after working hours but for some reason EDL was unable to abide by the agreement. He said there was no need for the taxpayers to go personally to the revenues building to pay their dues. “They [taxpayers] can settle their taxes and dues either through the banks or the offices of LibanPost across the country,” the source said. A taxpayer, who also did not wish to be identified, said he had recently been asked to wait for two hours when he happened to be at the building to settle an inheritance tax during an outage. “When the cuts are scheduled from 9-12, or 12-3 it is very problematic. [During the cuts] we have to stop working because most of the transactions are computerized,” another employee explained, when asked about the electricity cuts schedule. “This usually occurs twice or three times a week,” the employee added. According to the Energy Ministry, the government allocates close to $2 billion to cover EDL’s deficit each year. Ironically, the Finance Ministry is responsible for channeling the sums to the loss-making state-owned electricity provider. The Finance Ministry also allocates funds, in the annual public budget, for generators run by most ministries and public administrations, Businesses and households across Lebanon are forced to subscribe to private generators providers to make up for the severe electricity cuts. Apart from Beirut, which enjoys 21 hours of electricity each day, the remaining regions endure harsh power cuts that range between 12 and 16 hours each day, depending on the condition of the power plants and the weather. Energy and Water Minister Gibran Bassil estimated that the private generator providers in Lebanon deprive the treasury of more than $1 billion in revenues each year. The World Bank said the economy could grow by an additional 1 or 2 percent if the government managed to supply 24 hours of electricity every day.  

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

beirut finance ministry building in dark ages beirut finance ministry building in dark ages

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

beirut finance ministry building in dark ages beirut finance ministry building in dark ages

 



GMT 05:04 2024 Tuesday ,06 February

Skincare PR Performance Full Year 2017

GMT 10:08 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

Microsoft to open 4 data centres

GMT 23:35 2017 Saturday ,14 October

HM King congratulates French President

GMT 10:32 2017 Thursday ,10 August

No. 1 Murray out of Cincinnati with hip injury

GMT 07:10 2017 Monday ,06 February

Ahmed Zaher performs surprise role in new show

GMT 08:24 2017 Thursday ,04 May

Nahyan receives Speaker of Parliament

GMT 10:45 2017 Sunday ,12 February

Lebanese actress Nour praises “Good Night” film

GMT 20:15 2017 Friday ,18 August

Kuwaiti oil price up 24 cents to US$47.65 pb

GMT 21:32 2017 Saturday ,27 May

LMRA chief meets Indian ambassador

GMT 10:00 2018 Tuesday ,16 January

Volkswagen reports record global car sales

GMT 11:08 2018 Sunday ,07 January

More than 200 migrants storm Morocco-Spain border

GMT 13:35 2017 Wednesday ,22 March

Oman shares fall taking cues from regional bourses
 
 Emirates Voice Facebook,emirates voice facebook  Emirates Voice Twitter,emirates voice twitter Emirates Voice Rss,emirates voice rss  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

emiratesvoieen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen
emiratesvoice emiratesvoice emiratesvoice
emiratesvoice
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice