24 April 2012
BAGHDAD - A report by the Iraqi government's oil and energy committee revealed that the country lost 41 percent of its produced and imported electricity, adding that the amount of energy produced does not exceed 4,000 megawatts.
The report also explained that citizens will get electricity this summer for fewer than four hours per day.
Committee chairman Uday Awwad said the report, about electricity production in Iraq during the current year, refutes the statements by the Electricity Ministry about the improvement of production to 9,000 megawatts.
"The technical report came out with several recommendations including forcing the government to allow the private sector to invest within the energy sector, granting powers to provinces to deal with the private sector as well as the appointment of hundreds of daily wage workers in power stations as permanent staffing," Awwad added.
The Council of Representatives formed a committee of eight members responsible for detecting corruption issues in the Electricity Ministry's contracts. The committee submitted its report recently to the presidency of the council. The report recommended sacking Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs Houssein al-Shahristani and a number of employees on charges of corruption.
Iraq needs at least 14,000 megawatts to meet the high demand for energy. None of the electricity ministers since 2003 have been able to improve the electricity sector despite huge oil and financial revenues.
BAGHDAD - A report by the Iraqi government's oil and energy committee revealed that the country lost 41 percent of its produced and imported electricity, adding that the amount of energy produced does not exceed 4,000 megawatts.
The report also explained that citizens will get electricity this summer for fewer than four hours per day.
Committee chairman Uday Awwad said the report, about electricity production in Iraq during the current year, refutes the statements by the Electricity Ministry about the improvement of production to 9,000 megawatts.
"The technical report came out with several recommendations including forcing the government to allow the private sector to invest within the energy sector, granting powers to provinces to deal with the private sector as well as the appointment of hundreds of daily wage workers in power stations as permanent staffing," Awwad added.
The Council of Representatives formed a committee of eight members responsible for detecting corruption issues in the Electricity Ministry's contracts. The committee submitted its report recently to the presidency of the council. The report recommended sacking Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs Houssein al-Shahristani and a number of employees on charges of corruption.
Iraq needs at least 14,000 megawatts to meet the high demand for energy. None of the electricity ministers since 2003 have been able to improve the electricity sector despite huge oil and financial revenues.
© AK News 2012
