Your Highness the Prime Minister…Electricity, here is the solution

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YOUR Highness the Prime Minister, there is no doubt that electricity issue is not new. We have been suffering from electricity power cuts during summer over the past 40 years.

Rather, before summer begins, the system of local agents works to warn about it for reasons best known to them; and in an effort to achieve profits at the expense of the public and sovereign wealth.

The remedies to this problem are the same every time, without taking into account the real causes; because in the end, there is no permanent solution.

Therefore, from the position of Your Highness Prime Minister and you are an expert in economics, you realize what it means to exploit this kind of issue at a sensitive time for some companies to achieve their own goals.

Nonetheless, is it not more effective to investigate the reasons, and prevent those who propel turbines from exploiting this constant crisis and selling it at a very high price? Even if they do not meet the need, they set an exaggerated price.

Also, for the sake of transparency, a question arises: Is it inappropriate for the relevant ministry to study Kuwait’s need to increase sources of power as a result of urban expansion, and to develop appropriate mechanisms to fill the shortage, or is it up to chance?

Is there regular maintenance and strengthening of the production network, or do stakeholders intervene and put pressure on ministry officials to prevent them from finding appropriate solutions?

Also, with the start of the war on corruption, officials distanced themselves from bearing the responsibility of signing plans so as not to fall under suspicion.

Your Highness the Prime Minister, it must be recognized that what is happening is a struggle over prices, benefits and gains; in addition to lack of planning and the absence of a vision.

So today, with temperatures rising in the hottest region in summer, what will be the situation in the coming years, with climate change causing our countries to suffer from a fiery summer?

In this regard, you have a golden opportunity, which His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, made available when he issued his decision to suspend the local agent.

This means that the Council of Ministers can seek the assistance of international companies working in this field, without the influence of certain individuals who exercise pressure, as was the case previously.

We must return to the electricity plan scandal in 2007. Did successive governments benefit from it and work to fill the shortage or did the situation continue as it is and thus the problem worsened?

Some experts said that Kuwait’s need to get rid of this permanent crisis by building new generators and production plants that will serve the country in the future despite the urban expansion, and do not cost more than KD 150 million. Has this been taken into account?

What the State spends on subsidizing electricity alone can be saved by privatizing this sector, similar to what countries around the world do; meaning that the consumer is an owner, as the case with cooperative societies.

This reduces many of the burdens on public finances, as companies compete for services. It is a solution that has been proposed for a long time, considering that the current situation continues to revolve in a vicious circle. It is as if the crisis is emerging from the present and is not chronic, and the solutions are patchwork due to the failure to address the root causes of the disease.

Your Highness the Prime Minister, once the Council of Ministers realizes the geographical nature of Kuwait, and that the solutions must be realistic; there is no need for programmed power cuts or exploitation and blackmail that local agents do in this area which, unfortunately, applies to all sectors of the State.

This is why our issues remain pending. Electricity, water, and other basic needs cannot wait in a wealthy country like Kuwait, which has the capabilities to be immune from all these crises.

Finally, Your Highness the Prime Minister, Kuwait needs 3,000 megawatts. This amount exists, but it is idle due to the lack of maintenance of the turbines that produce it, while such maintenance costs KD 140 million. However, none of the ministers who passed through the ministry dared carry out such repair and maintenance works, because of disputes over personal interests in the National Assembly.

Every parliamentarian wanted to run the show for the benefit of his influential master. Investigate this issue and you will find that what we say is true.

We add that when the ministry took action as a result of higher directives, turbines producing 500 megawatts were repaired and they were operated immediately. This happened because they worked under pressure, there is no National Assembly obstructing the solution, and we have an Amir who issues orders and carries out his orders immediately.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

This news has been read 1687 times!