Iraqi Minister Comments on Efforts to Rebuild Electricity Sector

Al-Iraqiyah Television at 0925 gmt on 17 June carries in its “People’s Talk” programme a recorded interview with Iraqi Electricity Minister Karim Wahid, in the studio, by an unidentified anchorwoman.

The programme begins by interviewing a number of Iraqi citizens in the street, who complain about power cuts, which, they say, “have damaged the industrial, hospital, and educational sectors,” denying that there is a national electricity in Iraq. A TV correspondent, who held the interviews, says that “although millions of dollars have been spent over the five years, the electricity crisis has not been resolved.”

The anchorwoman says that the primary beneficiaries of the electricity crisis are the power generator dealers, who want the crisis to continue.

In response, Wahid says that “I hope the programme will move to the power stations to see the great job done by the employees, who offer many martyrs while carrying out their duties.”

The anchorman says that “we are aware of the great efforts made by the Electricity Ministry to resolve this crisis.”

In response, Wahid says that “citizens and officials face the same problems,” that “the ministry works day and night to rebuild the electricity sector, which has suffered damage over the past 30 years,” and that “we are determined to build a new electric network in new Iraq.” He also says that “the electricity sector is a victim of the unstable political and security situation” and that “the entire electric network in the country has suffered serious damage over the past five years.” However, he says, “most of the network has been rebuilt.”

Asked if the ministry tries to rely on the private sector to rebuild the electric network, Wahid says that “this will be extremely costly,” that “the ministry is planning to establish an electric network for the future generations,” and that “the sector will improve in the coming months.”

Asked on whether there is a time ceiling for the project, Wahid says that “we cannot set a time ceiling for this, because the ministry faces extremely heavy pressure from the lack of security, fuel, and water.” Moreover, he says, “the ministry is duty bound to protect power stations, transportation lines, and oil tanks; provide fuel; and build oil refineries, such as the one established at the Al-Musayyib station.”

Asked why the ministry does not cooperate with the Oil Ministry to get fuel, Wahid says that “the Oil Ministry has its own problems,” urging the ministries “to cooperate to meet the Iraqi citizens’ needs.” He says that “the situation has been extremely difficult over the past two years” and that “we do not have a magic wand to rebuild the destroyed electric network soon.” I make daily tours of markets and streets and meet citizens “to explore the facts on the ground,” he says, urging the citizens “to cooperate” and warning that “the sector is also suffering from violations.”

Asked about attempts by the governorates to have more than their shares in the electric energy, Wahid says that “the governorates are obliged to do this from time to time as a result of pressure from citizens.” Quoting a citizen as complaining about “the lack of electricity over the past two months,” he says that “compared to last year, we increased the electric energy by 22 per cent last winter.” During the recent military operation in the southern city of Basra, “most of the power stations came to a halt,” he says, adding that “the military operation in the Al-Sadr City also affected the sector” and that “we have restored electricity in both cities.” He also says that “we have set up an operations room in the Central Euphrates region and defined a share for each governorate in the region.”

Asked how the ministry views the solar energy issue, Wahid says that Iraq “is using solar energy to illuminate the streets,” that “we have imported 4,000 solar illumination units to be installed in Baghdad and other governorates within one month,” that “we will provide each governorate with 1,000 solar energy units,” and that “Iraq is working to find other sources of electricity.”

Asked if the ministry’s plan to reduce electricity consumption has succeeded, Wahid says that “the plan succeeded at the beginning despite the difficult security and political situation,” urging the citizen “to cooperate with the ministry to save electric energy.”

Originally published by Al-Iraqiyah TV, Baghdad, in Arabic 0925 17 Jun 08.

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