Friday, Aug 21, 2009
Sharjah: Residents and shopkeepers were worried even as power was restored late last night in some areas after a three-day blackout.
The power cut that started on Tuesday went into its third day yesterday and extended to Abu Shagara, Al Nahda, Al Qasimia, Al Rolla, Al Soor, Al Majaz, and Al Khan, in addition to Industrial Areas 1, 3, 4, 6, and Al Hamriya. Late last night power was restored in Abu Shagara and Al Qasimia, but other areas were in the dark.
Watch video: Swathes of Sharjah without power and water
"We do not have a shortage. The problem is that there was an overload of demand on the main power production plant, which has caused the outage," said Eisa Al Zarouni, Director of Control Section at the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa). "We apologise for the inconvenience and assure residents that engineers are working hard to solve the problem by Friday [today]," said Al Zarouni, stressing that Sewa was supplying affected areas with power reserves.
Residents and shopkeepers in affected areas told Gulf News that electricity returned on Wednesday night for a few hours, but then went off yesterday morning.
"I am staying in a hotel with my family, and some of my family members are already fatigued and sick. Many families are also waiting impatiently for the electricity. Ramadan is approaching and we wish the authorities could give us an idea when the power will resume to normal, so we could at least manage ourselves in this emergency situation," said Ekramul Riaz, a resident. "People are going to mosques to clean themselves up, and the power cut is affecting us all," said Ameen Noor, a resident.
"We do not have any air-conditioning or any running water. If the power cut continues in Ramadan then we will think about taking a holiday because we cannot work in these conditions. We could not take a shower for three days," said Ahmad Sabie, an employee who works at a shop selling spare parts for vehicles.
The healthcare sector was also badly affected by the blackout, forcing some facilities to throw out medicines and cut back on working hours.
"I am losing a lot of business because the refrigerator is not working, and tonight I will have to throw out all the insulin, suppositories and eye-drops. I use to keep the pharmacy open until midnight but have changed that now to 9pm," said Smitha John.
"As an eye specialist I need my tools, and now I can only use a torch light [flashlight] and take patients during the day, because we cannot work with candles. We cannot treat the patients properly either, and are using one generator at the clinic," said Dr Vasantha from Ravi Medical Centre.
By Mariam M. Al Serkal, Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
