Moawwad Foundation launches its sustainable energy project and calls for decentralisation

The Rene Moawwad Foundation (RMF) launched last Monday its initiative entitled ‘Towards Sustainable Energy Consumption in Select Local Communities of Northern Lebanon’. The EU-funded project targets the towns of Ardeh, Harf Ardeh, Beit Awkar and Beit Obeid in Zgharta and aims at promoting awareness on optimizing the use of energy. Ardeh mayor George Naoum stressed in his opening words his municipality’s technical and human capacity support of the project in the following aspects: retrofit 800 street lights with energy-efficient  ‘LED’ bulbs; support the local authority in the solar power lighting of six main areas within the municipality range; select 300 underprivileged households to receive energy packages and supervise the installation of hot water solar systems; protect houses against bad weather conditions and provide them with LED light bulbs and water efficient systems; and finally help the municipality in designing and constructing an eco-friendly and energy efficient municipality house. In this respect, RMF CEO, Michel Moawwad, criticized centralization in the administration of people’s affairs stating that it has proved futile, especially in Lebanon. He pointed to the living example of the current waste management crisis. This, he said, is another indication of the need for a full-scale decentralized system that gives local authorities wider powers, while encouraging transparency and accountability as well as promoting real development in all parts of Lebanon. (Al Mustaqbal, 4 August 2015)