Power shortage continues

Sixteen months after the conflict that ousted Saddam Hussein and temperatures are again reaching a scorching 140 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer heat. In a return of last summer, the need for regular power to run air conditioners, fridges etc, to give people respite from the unbearable heat and ensure that businesses can run properly is even more pressing. The country's power supplies, although improving slowly, have still some way to go before meeting the needs of the people, according to experts and local people. Neglect, sabotage, vandalism, theft and poor security have all contributed to the demise of the electricity situation. Baghdad, under Saddam Hussein's regime, was better off than the rest of the country with an almost 24 hour daily supply up until the recent conflict. Since then, supplies have been disrupted badly and electricity lines sabotaged. In the rest of the country, particularly the southern region, supplies were between three and five hours per day, under the former regime. Reports from various aid agencies now suggest that although electricity is available at least daily, there are regular power cuts. However, for the first time since the 2003 conflict, all four units of a Basra Governorate power plant are operating simultaneously, USAID said in a recent report. The plant is now generating an average of 177 megawatts daily and is expected to produce over 200 megawatts once cooler weather sets in around October. Power supplies in the north, which is run by the Kurdish authorities, were far better than in the rest of the country. Before the recent conflict, between 3,300-4,400 megawatts were produced per day. According to USAID, power generation began steadily increasing and reached 5,000 megawatts in July 2004. The Baji power station, 225 km north of Baghdad, is one of the biggest plants capable of producing electricity in the country but it is not producing to full capacity, due to neglect following conflicts in Iraq, UN sanctions and recent disruption. The plant should produce at least 1,300 megawatts per day, which would supply about 4 million families, but it barely reaches 550 megawatts per day and cannot serve the needs of some 16 million Iraqi homes, according to the ministry of health. "We live in one of the hottest areas of the world and electricity is essential for us. Instead of fighting why don't they try and give Iraqi people the minimum needs such as power?" Salah al-Kubaissi, 39, from Sadr city, one of Baghdad's suburbs where supplies are particularly eratic, told IRIN. "We are making very important steps to overcome the power shortage in all of Iraq," Raad Al-Hareth, the spokesman for the Ministry of Electricity, told IRIN. He added that on average there about 16 hours of power is supplied to all Iraqi homes. The ministry official explained that in order to meet demand, they needed to reach 7,000 megawatts of power, but had reached only 4,500 megawatts and that if security improved soon by next summer Iraqi people would have a 24-hour supply. "Some companies are afraid to come to Iraq now due to the kidnapping of their employees, but if we get minimum security for them the work will get done faster and maybe before next summer we can reach our dream that is full power to all Iraqis," he said. But optimism from officials is not shared by ordinary Iraqis that spoke to IRIN. "I'm afraid to go out to the door of my home at night when the power is off, scared that someone can come and do something to me and my sons are prohibited to go out after 9 pm," Leila Kadheem, a middle aged teacher at Baghdad college, told IRIN. The only way to ensure there is a regular supply of electricity is to have a generator, but this is simply unthinkable for most Iraqi families who barely have the finances to feed themselves. The problems with power in Iraq affect not only homes but all aspects of life including businesses and education. Students who are about to sit exams next week said it was impossible to concentrate on their studies due to power cuts preventing them from finishing lessons. "We are going to have our exams next week, and you cannot image how hard it is doing it in a room without electricity, you cannot concentrate at all," Mustafa Seif, a student of Engineering, told IRIN. Al-Hareth said they have a project for the future to separate power lines for schools and universities, but for the time being they would work out a way to ensure power during the exams. "We have spent more than US $1.1 billion but we need another $5 billion to finish the job, everything you do requires a very huge quantity of money". Many international groups have been working across Iraq to increase electricity production, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). UNDP is currently involved in four projects rehabilitating power plants at Hartha in the southern city of Basra, Mosul in the north, Al-Mussaib, 50 km south of Baghdad and Taji also near the capital. In addition, UNDP is also involved in supplying emergency generators for essential services such as hospitals and water pumping stations, providing mobile substations, different equipment and materials, tools and safety equipment. US companies like Perini Corporation and Washington Groups, have recently completed the first new power plant the country has seen in the last 30 years, which will be able to service an additional 600,000 families in the central region. "The important think is that we are not only creating a better life style to citizens but also generating employment opportunities," Thomas Zarges, vice president of operations for Washington Groups in Iraq, told IRIN. "We have employed together with our sub-contractors until now more than 1,000 Iraqi citizens that before were without jobs and at the same time those people are helping in rebuilding a new Iraq".