The "ever-lasting crisis" worsens in al-Anbar.. A service file turns into a political conflict

Shafaq News / Similar to other Iraqi cities, the electricity crisis in al-Anbar is getting worse. According to local officials, the governorate is experiencing a significant decline in hours of national electricity supply, noting that the issue has turned into a political conflict.

People expressed outrage when the cost of one amper in the Ramadi district reached 27,000 dinars. At the same time, Fallujah's local government decided to forbid turning off private generators and hold the owners responsible if the decision was broken.

On the other hand, generator owners complain that the local government does not provide fuel for them.

"Due to political interference in this matter, electricity has changed from being a service file to becoming a political file. Additionally, the general directorates and businesses affiliated with the Ministry of Electricity purposefully do nothing to stop Ramadi's electricity from further deteriorating." Said Ibrahim al-Awsaj, Ramadi district's administrator.

"The processing hours in Ramadi reach only eight hours per day, raising the price of one amper to 20,000-27,000 dinars, which is disastrous because the cost of amper in Hit and al-Fallujah districts is 3,000 dinars."

"I reckon that the Ministry of Electricity intentionally treats Ramadi unfairly when it comes to electricity processing hours because of parties - that I am unable to name- operating behind closed doors. Moreover, the General Distribution Company and the General Company for Transport and Networks are negligent and intentionally responsible for the failure of electricity, either directly or indirectly," he said.

"It makes no sense that a city gets eight hours of electricity supply while 70% of Iraq's cities get 20-24 hours. So the subject needs immediate intervention, if the Ministry of Electricity is aware of a city called Ramadi."

"The deterioration of the electricity crisis in the city, due to a lack of supply from the source in Baghdad, has caused a crisis that repeats itself almost every year for three or four months," said Juma'a al-Mohammadi, al-Fallujah district's administrator.

"The poor electricity service prompted us to give the private generators two hours rest per day. However, due to violations by some owners who keep their generators turned off for longer than the allotted time, we were forced to cancel the decision, and measures will be taken against violators," he told Shafaq News agency.

"Work is underway to increase the fuel shares for private generators to reduce prices for citizens and support the generator owners."

Al-Mohammadi noted, "The electricity situation in Rutbah is critical, as the current processing does not exceed 30% of the total district's need due to the continuous power outages and the city's reliance on a temporary inadequate diesel station," said Imad al-Dulaimi, Rutbah district's administrator.

"The diesel station provides 30% of Rutbah's need, and we hope it will improve in the coming days as the national electricity line between al-Qa'im and Rutbah is completely destroyed. We hope to return it to service at the end of this year."

"The impact of this outage has drastically affected private generators' prices and increased them to more than 10,000 dinars per amper. We hope that the electricity problems in the city will be resolved by the end of this year", al-Mohammadi added.