BEIRUT, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese lawmaker Yassin Jaber urged Thursday for a solution to the electricity problem in Lebanon which costs the country around 2 billion U.S. dollars yearly, local media reported.
"The electricity problem has become a national disaster and the country can no more bear the loss of 2 billion dollars every year," he was quoted by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper, as saying.
Lack of electricity in Lebanon has been a problem for many years, as the government is incapable of generating the needed amount of power.
Successive governments failed over the years to build power stations to solve the electricity problem in Lebanon.
An audio recorded by Jaber earlier this month went viral online claiming that the government refused an offer by Siemens to build power stations in Lebanon to solve the electricity crisis.
This promoted Caretaker Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil to respond by saying Germany's Siemens did not submit any offer to build power stations in Lebanon.
"The only thing that has happened in this area is that Siemens made such a suggestion but it withdrew it later on," the minister added.
However, Siemens CEO Joe Keaser said on Wednesday that Siemens has in fact offered to help improving the whole electricity value chain in Lebanon and have Siemens team assess what's best for the country.
