Rights group throws light on people’s plight as Lebanon electricity crisis deepens poverty

Rights group throws light on people’s plight as Lebanon electricity crisis deepens poverty

Families are forced to spend most of their income on connections from private generators

A man refuels privately-owned diesel generators that provide power to homes and businesses, in Beirut, Lebanon. — AP file

By AP Published: Thu 9 Mar 2023, 10:36 PM

Since the collapse of Lebanon’s state power grid, many middle and working class families have been forced to spend most of their monthly income to pay shady neighbourhood businessmen running private generators.

Still, they go without electricity for nearly half the day, according to a report by Human Rights Watch released Thursday. The situation threatens to deepen the poverty of this tiny Mediterranean country embroiled in a devastating economic meltdown.

In the report, the New York-based watchdog documented the struggles of over 1,200 lower-income households in Lebanon.

Pushed to the bring of bankruptcy, the state-run power company now provides the Lebanese with less than three hours of power a day. Most families told HRW they compromise on food, education, medications and other basic needs to pay for supplemental electricity.

According to the report, generator bills take up about 44 per cent of the average family’s monthly income, and twice that for the country’s poorer families. HRW cited as median monthly income in Lebanon $122, with