IRIN Focus on power shortages

Power cuts blamed by Cameroon's electricity utility on a shortage of water in its hydropower dams have affected households, businesses and key social services in the Central African country over the past four months. The effect on hospitals, in particular, has been telling, according to health professionals. "We cannot do lab tests without electricity," a nurse at a hospital in Biyem Assi, a low-income neighbourhood in Yaounde, told IRIN. "In maternity wards we sometimes don't sterilise the equipment we use for delivering babies. We can only disinfect them with bleach, which doesn't kill all the germs," added the nurse, who asked not to be identified by name. Her hospital does not have a generator so whenever there is a power cut patients have to make do with candles. The irregular supply has also forced the institution to transfer all surgical patients, premature babies - who need to remain in incubators - and other neonatal cases to hospitals that have generators, the nurse said. General Hospital and Central Hospital, the main medical institutions in Yaounde in terms of equipment and the services they offer, are among the few that have generators. But the capacity of the generators is below the amount of power usually provided by AES-SONEL. Le Messager, a privately owned newspaper published in Douala, the commercial capital, recently quoted a doctor at the public Laquintinie Hospital in Douala as saying that once, following a power cut at around 19:00 hours, a patient remained on the operating table with his stomach cut open for 30 minutes while the generator, which had broken down was restarted. "Fortunately the operation was a success," Dr Eugene Ngaundji said. Small businesses such as bakeries and fishmongers have had to close down after incurring heavy losses. Some proprietors say they have lost as much as 500,000 CFA (about US $665) per month, a tidy sum for small businesses in Cameroon. Many of these businesses have asked AES-SONEL for compensation, threatening to sue if the company does not pay up. Consumers have complained that the irregular power supply has caused electronic and household appliances to break down, including fridges, making food manage difficult. "In addition to this, and its incalculable repercussions on the management of food rations, the power cuts also make our children lazy," one housewife said. "At night they no longer learn their lessons properly. The darkness makes them take to their beds. Yet, the end-of-year exams are three months away." Observers say that, coupled with repeated strikes by teachers demanding better working conditions, the power cuts are likely to be among the prime causes of failure at school exams this year. AES-Sonel, Cameroon's sole power utility, has warned its over 50,000 subscribers that the load-shedding will continue until May. Some people have bought generators, but even the least powerful ones cost around 200,000 CFA francs (roughly US $260) and not many households can afford that. Some use candles. Others prefer petrol lamps, which cost more "but are not as risky as candles," as one housewife told IRIN, pointing out that many recent fires in Yaounde have been caused by candles. There have been frequent reports in local newspapers of such accidents, including the tragic case of four-year-old Aicha and her one-year-old brother Djibril, burnt to death in Douala a few weeks ago in a fire caused by a candle used to light up their bedroom. AES-SONEL Director Mark Miller said at a recent news conference that the electricity shortage was beyond the utility's control, since it stemmed from insufficient rains this year. "At the start of the dry season, the water level in the dams was five million cubic metres, while last year it was 7.7 million," he said. "Right now, our dams have only 1.2 million cubic metres, about 25% of our production capacity." He said he hoped the situation would get back to normal with the rainy season, scheduled to start by May. He also said his company had invested about 30 billion CFA francs (some US $40 million) to improve its installations, especially its thermal plants. SONEL (Societe nationale d'electricite) used to be a public concern until the state sold 51% of its shares to AES Sirocco, a US concern, for 23 billion CFA francs (about US $30.5 million). AES Sirocco has announced that it will increase its tariffs each year for the next five years so as to improve its viability and offer a high-quality service. However, this announcement has drawn much criticism from consumers, some of whom claim that the privatisation of SONEL has thus far benefited only the buyers. "The fate of AES-SONEL depends today on the mood of certain anonymous shareholders who are totally indifferent to the need to provide electricity throughout Cameroon so as to promote development," commented Ekollo Moundi Alexandre, a former official of the OJRDPC (Organisation des jeunes du Rassemblement démocratique du peuple camerounais), youth wing of the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Rally. "We never experienced such a situation before SONEL was privatised," electrician, Desire Boutchak said. However, the government has sought to reassure consumers that the terms of the privatisation agreement with AES-Sirocco, would be respected.