'Accusations on supply to US bases baseless'
KUWAIT CITY: The Cabinet will focus on the electricity crisis in the country during its weekly Sunday meeting and discuss a proposal to purchase generators to cover the current power shortages, say top governmental sources. A reliable source said the Council of Ministers will listen to reports to be submitted by Energy Minister Sheikh Ali Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah and a fact-finding committee formed to investigate the reasons for the electricity problems, adding "the Cabinet will concentrate on the technical conditions of the existing electricity generators and decide whether Kuwait needs new generators to tackle the ongoing crisis."
Recently the Cabinet formed a committee comprising of representatives from Kuwait University, Kuwait Engineers Society and Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research to identify the reasons for the power shortage. Members of the committee led by Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Acting Minister of Energy Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah visited all power stations in the country to study their condition before preparing the reports.
The Energy Ministry recently said "the pre-programmed power cut, which has been reduced to 30 minutes a day in some areas, will continue until the end of August 2006." In other developments, sources say the Energy Ministry is in a total disarray and confused over how to tackle the current electricity crisis.
When contacted by the Arab Times, senior officials of the Electricity and Water Sector refused to give any comment, saying "Energy Minister Sheikh Ali Al-Jarrah will hold a press conference at the airport upon his arrival in Kuwait."
MP Jaber Al-Muhailibi said carelessness and negligence of the Energy Ministry is responsible for the current crisis, adding "I am surprised such a thing can happen in a rich country like Kuwait, which has been supporting other countries with power plants."
Meanwhile a reliable source told Al-Watan, members of the investigation committee recently met managers and duty officers of all electricity stations as a part of their effort to prepare a thorough report on this issue.
Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Acting Minister of Energy Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah said "that the two new power generators will start working in Al-Zour power station, the first generator will become operational next Sunday the other will start functioning by the end of August 2006."
Indicating the two generators will produce 260 MW of electricity, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said "HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah is closely monitoring the latest developments on the electricity crisis. Government officers are holding a lot meetings to prevent a similar crisis in the future and the Energy Ministry is implementing several new projects to tide over the problems."
Assistant Undersecretary of Power Station Projects and Water Desalination Units and Assistant Undersecretary of Electricity Distribution Hamoud Al-Enezi said "the silly accusations of MPs that the Ministry of Energy is supplying electricity to US military bases and Iraq are baseless."
Stressing that there are no electrical network between Kuwait and its neighboring countries, he said "US bases in Kuwait use their very own electricity generators." In related developments former Assistant Undersecretary of Water Projects at the Ministry of Energy Abdullah Al-Rajeb told Al-Qabas "water crisis, which are plaguing the country for the last 10 years, will continue for another six years."
He said the government's preparations to tackle the water shortage will cover the need for only two or three years, adding "claims of officials of the Water Department that the country doesn't face any water shortage are baseless and far from the truth." Al-Rajeb also said "the government must tale upon itself to prepare a contingency plan and strategy to solve the water crisis in future."
By Salem Al-Wawan and Usama Nafaa
© Arab Times 2006
