IRAQ: Hot and bothered in Baghdad
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Spring is in the air, and Iraqis’ thoughts are turning to ... air conditioning. That means they’re also thinking about the chronic electricity shortages that make the hot months unbearable for people who can’t afford to run generators day and night.
Sunday’s temperature reached 79 degrees. By May, daytime highs near 100 will be the norm. And the news is not good for people who had hoped to escape a repeat of last summer, when most Baghdad residents were lucky to get more than a few hours of power each 120-degree day.
Dr. Tahseen Sheikhly found himself having to break the bad news during a news conference that was supposed to highlight the progress of U.S.-Iraqi reconstruction efforts. Instead, Sheikhly, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, was hammered by questions from Iraqi journalists demanding explanations for Baghdad’s pathetic power supply.
‘We get 1,000 megawatts a day in Baghdad, but we need 3,800. That’s the reality,’ he said. ‘I know the suffering.’ Nationwide, Sheikhly said the country needs 10,000 megawatts daily to meet demand but produces only 4,500.
The Iraqi media were not satisfied.
‘When do you think we’ll see any improvement?’ one reporter asked impatiently. Another questioned why the Iraqis and Americans did not make use of Iraq’s merciless sun by turning to solar power. The question was briefly lost in translation when ‘solar’ was broadcast as ‘sonar’ through the headphones worn by English speakers attending the conference.
One of them was Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Dorko of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Once the confusion was sorted out, Dorko shot down the solar plan as far too expensive compared to conventional power plants.
Sheikhly said what officials here have been saying for five years: They’re working on the problem, but it takes time. Five power plants are under construction in Baghdad, he said. ‘We said work was ongoing to improve the situation. We never made any promises!’ said the clearly exasperated spokesman.
Iraqi and U.S. officials have been under fire since the start of the war to improve the power supply across the country, especially in Baghdad, a capital of several million people. They blame Saddam Hussein’s neglect of infrastructure, as well as insurgent attacks on power plants, transformers, power lines and electricity workers, for the ongoing shortage.
For Iraqis, electricity means more than just being able to run appliances or watch TV. It can mean the difference between life and death. Last summer, Iraqi media often reported deaths of several civilians who had gone to sleep on their roofs to escape the heat, only to be shot by U.S. helicopter gunships during nighttime air assaults targeting insurgents in residential areas.
— Tina Susman in Baghdad
