Collective Action
Metn residents protest high-voltage power lines
Residents of Mansourieh and surrounding areas joined members of civil society to protest Sunday the installation of high-voltage power lines connecting Bsalim with Aramoun.
The protesters, joined by Kataeb Party MP Elias Hankash, called for international criteria to be adhered to while the lines are installed, for them to be placed at least 220 meters away from residential areas and schools and for them to be underground instead of aboveground.Sunday’s protest took place a day before Cabinet is set to debate a new electricity sector reform plan, whose initial text The Daily Star obtained a copy of. The plan calls for the continued installation of the transmission lines to lower the technical deficit in the sector, which makes up part of the 34 percent of electricity that the plan says is lost.Cabinet is set to meet Monday to discuss the electricity plan presented by Energy Minister Nada Boustani, which was approved Thursday by a ministerial committee in charge of studying it.