An old-new crisis is coming to the fore, which is the problem of the Electricite Du Liban (EDL) daily-worker. After the Minister of Energy and Water violated his promise to follow up on their demands, today they are declaring an open sit-in in all departments of the Corporation until their demands are met.

The EDL daily workers’ problem is an old one, yet no one is caring. After the Minister of Energy and Water promised the daily workers to follow up their demands, and to implement the agreement that took place last October, during which the Minister of Energy gave directions to amend the new work contract in a way that guarantees workers an increase in salaries, and promised the workers that within two days an advance from the EDL would be paid to the contractor, who in turn would pay for workers the months owed… Here they are today, they only they received is the increase in the daily allowance approved by the Minister of Energy. As for some obstacles with Electricité du Liban, the minister promised them, this time as well, that they would be resolved in the Board of Directors session next Tuesday.

Accordingly, the committee announced the open sit-in in all departments of the institution, that is, in the factories, stations, and the administrative building, and attendance will be without work, until the administration responds to the daily workers demands and their wasted stolen right.

Since last summer, the Ministry of Communications has started marketing the idea of raising the telecommunications bill. It has recently made clear that the Ministry does not want to increase prices, but it is obliged to keep the sector going, and in order to secure a good telecommunications service, the bill must be increased.

Informed sources indicated to Sawt Beirut International that the increase will not be random, stressing that communications will be within the reach of the Lebanese people. It also pointed out that the final decision has not been taken regarding the pricing, and the principle is not to increase the bill insanely, and the pricing will be based on “Sayrafa”, with a special package for people with limited income.