Campaign to boost national grid
By Taghreed Mansour
Azzaman,
July 1, 2005
The Ministry of Electricity says it is planning “a
large campaign” to boost electricity supplies by putting an end to “violations”
of the national grid.
In the
absence of law and order households and businesses no longer seek permission or
license for linking up to electrical cables.
The
ministry has yet to collect fees from consumers which have gone unpaid since
the fall of the former regime more than two years ago.
As power
is more off than on in most parts of the country many consumer have ignored an
experimental billing system introduced in
But the
ministry is said to be determined to put its own house in order by having all
violations removed across the country, a step it believes will bring some form
of stability to the national grid.
“The
ministry is about to launch a large campaign to remove all violations and
preserve the national grid,” said in a ministry statement faxed to the newspaper.
It
acknowledged that many Iraqis now take the law into their hands and link up to
the national grid without permission.
Previous
drives by the ministry failed to achieve their target.
However,
the ministry said it was “serious this time” and its inspectors “will comb
residential districts and streets in
The
statement said if consumers honor standing rules regarding power consumption,
the supply of electricity “is bound to substantially improve.”
“The snags
hitting the national grid as a result of these violations cost huge amounts of
money,” it said.
It said
many households and businesses were getting more than their fair share of
electricity.
The
statement urged consumers to cooperate with teams the ministry is to send out
early this month “to make the campaign a success.”
Meantime,
a ministry official, refusing to be named, said he was expecting “an
improvement” in power supply during the hot summer months.
He said
And
