Beirut: UNICEF has warned that water supply systems across the country are on the verge of collapse and that Lebanese children are at risk.
“While the public water supply network has so far been saved from complete collapse, the (water supply) system is on the verge, threatening the health of millions of people, especially children,” UNICEF said in a statement. Is.”
The UN body said Lebanon’s limited electricity supply makes it impossible to pump enough water, and in some cases, “stops pumping operations completely.”
It said it had previously warned “a year ago that the water system had reached a breaking point.”
Edouard Begbeder, UNICEF representative in Lebanon, said that “millions of people in Lebanon are affected by the limited availability of clean and safe water, and addressing this issue is of utmost importance to the health of children and families in Lebanon.
“Since the onset of the crisis, per capita water supply from water installations has decreased dramatically amid frequent blackouts, well below the 35 liters per day considered minimum allowable quantity,” he said.
“The average cost of 1,000 liters of trucked water in April 2022 rose to 145,000 Lebanese pounds ($6 at the sairafa exchange rate), an increase of nearly 50 percent compared to the same month in 2021.
“A family of five, drinking a total of 10 liters of wine a day, would need to spend around £6.5 million per year, in addition to the cost of the water used for cooking and sanitation needs. Will be.”
Based on its report, UNICEF – which financially contributes to the operation of water pumps in Lebanon – “to keep critical systems running and water flowing to more than four million people across the country and the safety of public access and operation.” $75 million is required annually for the water system.
UNICEF’s warning came amid political chaos in Lebanon that is creating further crisis, leading to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in a speech on Wednesday calling the country “al-Asfouriyah” (the insane asylum).
Banque du Liban employees continued their three-day strike on Thursday to seek its governor to arrest him, protesting the raid on the bank’s headquarters against Mount Lebanon’s state prosecutor, Judge Ghada Aun. .
The raids came after Riyadh Salameh failed to appear for questioning in March on charges of illicit money and money laundering charged by Aun.
For the second day in a row, exchange operations on the bank’s Sarafa rate platform were halted, forcing traders and citizens alike to turn to the black market for the dollar.
Other operations affected include clearing checks, transfers abroad, opening credits and other processes. More importantly, the payment orders and transfers issued by the Finance Ministry will not be disbursed.
Reactions, which began with the arrest of the Archbishop of Haifa and Holy Land Bishop Musa al-Hajj, continued after he was detained on Monday at the Lebanese border post in Ras al-Nakoura after returning from Israel. He faced 11 hours of interrogation, confiscated with money and drugs brought from Lebanon who fled Israel 22 years earlier.
The council of Maronite bishops, which held an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday, expressed dismay at al-Hajj’s arrest, the seizure of his passport and phone, and his being called to appear before military judge Fadi Aqiqi.
At one meeting, the council called for Akiki’s removal, saying that what happened was “pre-planned and determined, at a remarkable and suspicious time, and to a known malicious end.”
The council also called on the Minister of Justice to take the necessary disciplinary measures against those responsible, and called for Cassation’s public prosecutor to refer Akiki for judicial oversight and remove him.
Justice Minister Henry Khoury’s press office announced on Thursday that ministers were asking all judicial officials for immediate updates on the development of the investigation with al-Hajj and the raids on the central bank.
Progressive Socialist Party president Walid Jumbalt called for the situation to be addressed calmly and stressed the need for institutions to respect “above all consideration in these difficult circumstances”.
Marada movement chief and presidential candidate Suleiman Franzih met with Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai on Thursday, claiming that the judiciary in Lebanon was politicized and that judges were subjected to “political and media intimidation”. was going.
In a press conference on Thursday, Lebanon’s Sovereign Front called al-Hajj’s arrest a “coup to take advantage of the last parliamentary elections”.
It said some prosecutors, security figures and judges were offering their services to people running the state, an evasive reference to the Iran-backed militias.