BAGHDAD - Iraq's power grid is on the brink of collapse because of insurgent
sabotage, rising demand, fuel shortages and provinces that are unplugging local
power stations from the national grid, officials said Saturday.
Abdul Amir Hussein connects a network of water hoses to
apartments in a central Baghdad, Iraq complex Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007.
[AP]
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Electricity Ministry spokesman
Aziz al-Shimari said power generation nationally is only meeting half the
demand, and there had been four nationwide blackouts over the past two days. The
shortages across the country are the worst since the summer of 2003, shortly
after the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, he said.
Power supplies in Baghdad have been sporadic all summer and now are down to
just a few hours a day, if that. The water supply in the capital has also been
severely curtailed by power blackouts and cuts that have affected pumping and
filtration stations.
Karbala province south of Baghdad has been without power for three days,
causing water mains to go dry in the provincial capital, the Shiite holy city of
Karbala.
"We no longer need television documentaries about the Stone Age. We are
actually living in it. We are in constant danger because of the filthy water and
rotten food we are having," said Hazim Obeid, who sells clothing at a stall in
the Karbala market.
Electricity shortages are a perennial problem in Iraq, even though it sits
atop one of the world's largest crude oil reserves. The national power grid
became decrepit under Saddam Hussein because his regime was under U.N. sanctions
after the Gulf War and had trouble buying spare parts or equipment to upgrade
the system.
The power problems are only adding to the misery of Iraqis, already suffering
from the effects of more than four years of war and sectarian violence. Outages
make life almost unbearable in the summer months, when average daily
temperatures reach between 110 and 120 degrees.
One of the biggest problems facing the national grid is the move by provinces
to disconnect their power plants from the system, reducing the overall amount of
electricity being generated for the entire country. Provinces say they have no
choice because they are not getting as much electricity in return for what they
produce, mainly because the capital requires so much power.
"Many southern provinces such as Basra, Diwaniyah, Nassiriyah, Babil have
disconnected their power plants from the national grid. Northern provinces,
including Kurdistan, are doing the same," al-Shimari said. "We have absolutely
no control over some areas in the south," he added.
"The national grid will collapse if the provinces do not abide by rules
regarding their share of electricity. Everybody will lose and there will be no
electricity winner," al-Shimari said.
He complained that the central government was unable to do anything about
provincial power stations pulling out of the national system, or the fact some
provinces were failing to take themselves off the supply grid once they had
consumed their daily ration of electricity.
Najaf provincial spokesman Ahmed Deibel confirmed to The Associated Press
Sunday that the gas turbine generator there had been removed from the national
grid. He said the plant produced 50 megawatts while the province needed at least
200 megawatts.
"What we produce is not enough even for us. We disconnected it from the
national grid three days ago because the people in Baghdad were getting too
much, leaving little electricity for Najaf," he said.
Compounding the problem, al-Shimari said there are 17 high-tension lines
running into Baghdad but only two were operational. The rest had been sabotaged.
"What makes Baghdad the worst place in the country is that most of the lines
leading into the capital have been destroyed. That is compounded by the fact
that Baghdad has limited generating capacity," al-Shimari said.
"When we fix a line, the insurgents attack it the next day," he added.
Fuel shortages are also a major problem. In Karbala, provincial spokesman
Ghalib al-Daami said a 50-megawatt power station had been shut down because of a
lack of fuel, causing the entire province to be without water and electricity
for the past three days.
He said sewage was seeping above ground in nearly half the provincial capital
because pump trucks used to clean septic tanks have been unable to operate due
to gasoline shortages. The sewage was causing a health threat to citizens and
contaminating crops in the region.
Many people who normally would rely on small home generators for electricity
can't afford to buy fuel. Gasoline prices have shot up to nearly $5 a gallon,
Karbala residents say, a price that puts the fuel out of range for all but the
wealthy.
"We wait for the sunset to enjoy some coolness," said Qassim Hussein, a
31-year-old day laborer in Karbala. "The people are fed-up. There is no water,
no electricity, there is nothing, but death. I've even had more trouble with my
wife these last three days. Everybody is on edge."
Iraq has the world's third-largest proven oil reserves, behind Saudi Arabia
and Iran. But oil production has been hampered by insurgent and saboteur
attacks, ranging from bombing pipelines to siphoning off oil. The attacks have
cost the country billions of dollars since the 2003 US invasion. Dilapidated
infrastructure has also hindered refining, forcing Iraq to import large amounts
of kerosene and other oil products.
The electricity problems come as leaders are trying to deal with a political
crisis that erupted when the country's largest bloc of Sunni political parties
withdrew from the government.
President Bush called Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Vice President Adel
Abdel-Mahdi to urge them to try to preserve political unity in the country,
where the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is under a stiff
challenge from rival political forces and insurgents.
Talabani, a Kurd, and Abdel-Mahdi, a Shiite, provided few details of the
conversations in statements released by their offices. But both men have been
involved in trying to solve the crisis.
Elsewhere, the US military announced the death of a Marine during combat
Thursday in Iraq's western Anbar province.
The US military also issued a statement saying its forces killed four
suspects and captured 33 others Saturday in raids in northern Iraq and along the
Tigris River Valley.
In northern Iraq, a prison riot was brought under control two days after it
broke out when Iraqi guards prepared to move inmates into an isolation unit and
US soldiers surrounded the facility.
The riot at Badoosh prison outside Mosul, about 220 miles northwest of
Baghdad, involved nearly 65 inmates. Iraqi guards killed one inmate who was
trying to escape from the prison yard and wounded two others inside the prison,
the US military said in a statement.
The US military said American troops did not fire any
rounds during the disturbance and no US or Iraqi troops were wounded.