5 days ago
After his forced departure from Beirut Water Office, Jean Gebran defends his record
The former director general of the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Water Office, Jean Gebran, who was dismissed from his position last week, spoke out on Wednesday in a statement about his sidelining the previous week. He stated that his management of the public office was "above reproach" and that the failures to meet citizens' needs were due to a "lack of resources."
Last Wednesday, Energy and Water Minister Joe Saddi told L'Orient-Le Jour that "the senior official's term ended in 2021 and the measure is purely administrative."
However, informed sources told the Al-Markazia agency that this dismissal was related to "his use of the institution to serve his electoral ambitions, after having announced his candidacy in the upcoming parliamentary elections under the banner of the Free Patriotic Movement [FPM] in Jbeil."
The same sources specified that the decision was not an act of political retribution but a reform measure, pointing to "the flagrant use of services and hirings in Jbeil and Kesrouan as a form of political clientelism." Gebran is considered close to the Free Patriotic Movement, while Saddi is close to the Lebanese Forces (LF), the FPM's political rival on the Christian scene. Before Saddi's appointment, the Energy Ministry had been headed by Aounist ministers since 2008.
In his statement, Gebran said he "expected thanks only from the faithful and the innocent, and not from officials incapable of distinguishing between development and politics." Dismissed from his position by the Parliament and placed at the disposal of Minister Saddi, he thanked "all those with whom I had the honor to work within this administration, especially during the most difficult periods." He further said, "I forgive all those who doubted me, openly or in secret, because I excuse them: They do not know the truth."
Affirming that his management of the administration had been "irreproachable over the past seven years," he "apologized to the citizens whose needs I was unable to meet, not out of negligence on my part, but for lack of available resources."
In recent years, the Lebanese public administration has suffered from repeated political crises, a presidential vacancy that lasted from October 2022 to January 2025, and economic collapse, which, due to the sharp depreciation of the national currency, has significantly eroded salaries. Water supply is regularly cut off or rationed in Beirut, often due to power outages preventing the operation of the Office's pumps.
