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EDITOR’S NOTE: The author of this article, Steven Vincent, was murdered in Basra hours after this was published. A piece of his on Islamists there appeared in the New York Times (and subsequently the International Herald Tribune) this past weekend.
Basra, Iraq — In the middle of an interview with Sheik Abdul al-Baghdali, an American-hating supporter of Moqtada al-Sadr, the lights in his office suddenly went out. “This is what your country has done to Iraq,” he snorted, “stolen its electricity.” On his pumpkin-sized face was the insufferable smirk of a man who knows — right or wrong — he has you beat in an argument.
The problem was, he did have me beat. Understandably enough, the shortage of electricity throughout Iraq is a major source of citizen anger. In Basra, the kahrabaa is on for three hours, off for three, giving numerous opportunities for people to blame America and pine for the energy-rich days of Saddam. And since like most journalists, my knowledge of electricity extends no further than an on/off switch, I hadn’t the foggiest idea how to respond. Iraq — especially southern Iraq — floats on a sea of oil; it should be ablaze with energy — especially since Uncle Sam has invested over $1 billion dollars in this sector. Why does Basra have an energy shortage? And whose fault is it?
…
The reasons for this shortfall, he went on, include a lack of up-to-date power plants (the last were built in 1991), deteriorating equipment (because existing plants have to go 24/7 to meet electricity demands, officials can’t pull them offline for maintenance) and, of course, terrorists who target the energy infrastructure.
The south has its particular problems, he continued, among them the increased salinization of the Shatt-al-Arab due to Saddam’s wars and disastrous environmental policies (salty water does a poorer job of cooling generators and attracts barnacles from the Gulf, which obstruct water conduits). Meanwhile, “religious parties place incompetent people in high positions. To get a job here, you used to need experience. Now it depends on your affiliation with the turbans.”
There’s also the matter of pillage. Some 900 high-voltage towers were destroyed during the last war: 50 by Coalition troops, 850 by looters. About a year ago, the Garamsha, a tribe particularly feared for their criminal activities, got in a firefight with the rival Halaf tribe, in the process destroying most of a sub-station on the north end of Basra. Six months ago, the Garamsha wrecked 10 high voltage towers, bringing down one 400 and two 132 kilovolt transmission lines.
“Today, we pay the Garamsha to ‘guard’ the powerlines,” said Dr. B. “Actually, they don’t do any work, they simply collect their money.” The Iraqi government also buys “protection” from militias belonging to the religious parties, the doctor added.
There’s yet another reason for Basra’s power shortage, one that people here rarely mention: Basrans themselves. “We pay only three dinars per kilowat hour — for us, electricity is essentially free so we have no incentive to conserve,” said Hayder Abbas, Manager of the Power Distribution Directorate.
Unlike Dr. B., who oversees electrical transmission for Iraq’s four southermost provinces, the quiet-spoken, to-the-point Abbas supervises local use of kahrabaa. “Basra province’s consumption is about 800 megawatts per hour, but we produce only 550.” The main problem is the al-Hartha plant at the northern end of Basra city, which was designed to produce 800 MWh, but damage from Gulf War I and II cut that figure in half.
Meanwhile, Abbas continued, **Basrans’ salaries have dramatically increased, encouraging people to splurge on such appliances as washing machines, televisions, computers, and especially air conditioners. “Some homes have three or four a/c units, each unit consuming large amounts of electricity.” Basrans purchase 10-15 of these energy-eaters a day, Abbas estimated. **
read the rest:
nationalreview.com/comment/vincent200508020823.asp
Basra, Iraq — In the middle of an interview with Sheik Abdul al-Baghdali, an American-hating supporter of Moqtada al-Sadr, the lights in his office suddenly went out. “This is what your country has done to Iraq,” he snorted, “stolen its electricity.” On his pumpkin-sized face was the insufferable smirk of a man who knows — right or wrong — he has you beat in an argument.
The problem was, he did have me beat. Understandably enough, the shortage of electricity throughout Iraq is a major source of citizen anger. In Basra, the kahrabaa is on for three hours, off for three, giving numerous opportunities for people to blame America and pine for the energy-rich days of Saddam. And since like most journalists, my knowledge of electricity extends no further than an on/off switch, I hadn’t the foggiest idea how to respond. Iraq — especially southern Iraq — floats on a sea of oil; it should be ablaze with energy — especially since Uncle Sam has invested over $1 billion dollars in this sector. Why does Basra have an energy shortage? And whose fault is it?
…
The reasons for this shortfall, he went on, include a lack of up-to-date power plants (the last were built in 1991), deteriorating equipment (because existing plants have to go 24/7 to meet electricity demands, officials can’t pull them offline for maintenance) and, of course, terrorists who target the energy infrastructure.
The south has its particular problems, he continued, among them the increased salinization of the Shatt-al-Arab due to Saddam’s wars and disastrous environmental policies (salty water does a poorer job of cooling generators and attracts barnacles from the Gulf, which obstruct water conduits). Meanwhile, “religious parties place incompetent people in high positions. To get a job here, you used to need experience. Now it depends on your affiliation with the turbans.”
There’s also the matter of pillage. Some 900 high-voltage towers were destroyed during the last war: 50 by Coalition troops, 850 by looters. About a year ago, the Garamsha, a tribe particularly feared for their criminal activities, got in a firefight with the rival Halaf tribe, in the process destroying most of a sub-station on the north end of Basra. Six months ago, the Garamsha wrecked 10 high voltage towers, bringing down one 400 and two 132 kilovolt transmission lines.
“Today, we pay the Garamsha to ‘guard’ the powerlines,” said Dr. B. “Actually, they don’t do any work, they simply collect their money.” The Iraqi government also buys “protection” from militias belonging to the religious parties, the doctor added.
There’s yet another reason for Basra’s power shortage, one that people here rarely mention: Basrans themselves. “We pay only three dinars per kilowat hour — for us, electricity is essentially free so we have no incentive to conserve,” said Hayder Abbas, Manager of the Power Distribution Directorate.
Unlike Dr. B., who oversees electrical transmission for Iraq’s four southermost provinces, the quiet-spoken, to-the-point Abbas supervises local use of kahrabaa. “Basra province’s consumption is about 800 megawatts per hour, but we produce only 550.” The main problem is the al-Hartha plant at the northern end of Basra city, which was designed to produce 800 MWh, but damage from Gulf War I and II cut that figure in half.
Meanwhile, Abbas continued, **Basrans’ salaries have dramatically increased, encouraging people to splurge on such appliances as washing machines, televisions, computers, and especially air conditioners. “Some homes have three or four a/c units, each unit consuming large amounts of electricity.” Basrans purchase 10-15 of these energy-eaters a day, Abbas estimated. **
read the rest:
nationalreview.com/comment/vincent200508020823.asp