With temperatures soaring in Iraq, the electricity crisis becomes more prevalent in public discourse and a pressing issue for the government. This is a known trend that extends over summer seasons in the Levantine country.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi is trying to take all necessary measures to mitigate the severity of the crisis and alleviate the suffering of Iraqis who are receiving less than 10 hours of main current electricity per day.
Kadhimi held a meeting with the Ministers of Electricity and Oil to discuss electricity supply in Iraq and directed that all electricity projects, especially those agreed with Siemens, be implemented without delay.
Kadhimi’s office said in a statement that the PM held “a meeting with the ministers of electricity and oil devoted to tackling the current electricity crisis", noting that the PM counted, “the electricity file as one of the most important challenges facing the work of the current government".
The statement quoted Kadhimi as saying: " Billions of dollars were spent in the past years on this sector and were sufficient to build modern electrical networks, but corruption, financial waste, and mismanagement prevented solving the electric power crisis in Iraq".
"The previous ministry did not carry out electricity-related projects", pointing that, "the government is determined to tackle this file by implementing plans to develop production sectors, and blocking all the outlets of corruption in this vital sector", Kadhimi added.
The PM directed the Ministry of Oil to "provide free fuel to the owners of private generators, in exchange for lower subscription rates and increased processing hours".
Often, the great lack of electricity supplies led to angry protest demonstrations in the central and southern provinces. Fears of the spread of COVID-19, however, are believed to have prevented public outrage from manifesting as protests.
Some limited and angry demonstrations have already occurred in recent days in Baghdad and other areas in the south and east of the country.