There is no solution in sight to the electricity crisis..and corruption committees dominate the mini

[size=52]There is no solution in sight to the electricity crisis..and corruption committees dominate the ministry[/size]

[size=45]Yesterday, a source close to the Ministry of Electricity revealed that the Prime Minister agreed to the resignation of the Minister of Electricity, Majed Hantoush, due to the power outage crisis and the reduction of the hours of supplying citizens with electric power, suggesting that the Minister of Oil would likely be assigned to run the Ministry of Electricity as an agency.[/size]
[size=45]Representatives in Parliament identified many reasons for the lack of equipment and weakness in electric power, including reliance on imported gas from the Iranian side, neglecting refineries, targeting power towers, and not investing and relying on internal sources. Meanwhile, economic experts are surprised that the Ministry of Electricity did not reach the production of 20,000 megawatts, despite spending 60-70 billion dollars on energy supply.[/size]
[size=45]“Corruption committees” dominate the ministry[/size]
[size=45]The source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation, explained in an interview with (Al-Mada) that “the cause of the electricity crisis every year at the same time, is the interference of the influential political parties in the management of the ministry and their control over all decisions,” noting that the political hegemony over the ministry made Every minister is weak and unable to run his ministry.[/size]
[size=45]With the rising temperatures, the power outages crisis over the past few days has returned to the fore. A few days ago, a number of electric power plants were exposed to the frequent targeting of power towers in remote areas, which is reflected in providing citizens with electricity hours. As a result of these repercussions, the Minister of Electricity, Majid Hantoush, submitted his resignation after the decline in supplying the citizen with electrical energy, coinciding with the high temperatures, which reached about 60 degrees under the sun, and 50 degrees under the shade in many Iraqi regions, with an organized campaign launched by unknown persons to blow up towers power processing. The source pointed out that “the economic committee of one of the parties is the one who controls the ministry’s file, not the minister, and it is the one who concludes the supply and maintenance contracts,” pointing out that there are personalities who are imposed on the minister to manage important sites, and their concern is only theft and not providing services.[/size]
[size=45]He points out that "the money allocated to the Ministry of Electricity goes to the pockets of the corrupt, through the establishment of fake projects whose purpose is to obtain this money," noting that those figures involved in corruption are protected by political parties who control the ministry.[/size]
[size=45]Two days ago, the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, called for the dismissal of the current Minister of Electricity for his inability to solve the current problems facing the people, proposing to conclude agreements with international companies to rehabilitate electricity in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sadr commented on the electricity problem in Iraq in a tweet on Twitter, last Sunday, and said that “the problem of electricity in Iraq lies in several important matters that have caused, even gradually, the deterioration of electric power,” adding that “corruption is one of the reasons that led to the waste of electric power.”[/size]
[size=45]The source close to the Ministry of Electricity states that “the problem of the power outage crisis at the present time is shared by all ministries, foremost of which is the Ministry of Oil, Water Resources and Finance, as well as the recent appointments that took place in the ministry is a waste of state funds,” considering that “the ministries referred to No assistance was provided to the Ministry of Electricity in overcoming the crisis.[/size]
[size=45]Three problems[/size]
[size=45]He points out that “there are three problems that the Ministry of Electricity suffers from, the first in the issue of production, the second in transportation, and the third in distribution,” considering that the ministry’s tendency to invest in energy is the best way to get rid of these repercussions and to be able to solve all these problems and intersections that occur and occur. The source believes that “the problem of transmission and distribution causes a lot of electrical energy production to be lost,” expecting the electricity crisis to continue for long periods, according to this control and domination by political parties over the source of decision in the ministry.[/size]
[size=45]He asserts that "corruption has penetrated all parts of the state," expecting the prime minister to accept the minister's resignation, and assign the oil minister to run the ministry until the next elections.[/size]
[size=45]Despite the repeated calls, the Ministry of Electricity did not respond to Al-Mada’s communications in order to find out about the problem of the electric current and the energy crisis, and also to know the statistics regarding the production of electricity to eliminate the energy crisis, as well as to address the issue of the minister’s resignation.[/size]
[size=45]For his part, a member of the House of Representatives from the Alliance of Saeroon Salam Al-Shammari confirmed in a statement issued by his media office and reviewed by (Al-Mada) that the reality of services in general is in a dire situation despite the huge sums that were spent on its various sectors. Noting that most areas in the capital and the governorates are witnessing a bad and miserable service reality in various sectors of water, electricity and other municipal services.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shammari added that "many projects that are being held in the areas and villages of a number of governorates are through popular contributions in the absence of service agencies and the pretext of things that cannot be accepted after all these years." He stressed that it is necessary for the government and its concerned agencies to pay great attention to the services file and set a timetable to bring the current reality to a better reality before popular protests permeate all regions of the country and the consequences are not good.[/size]
[size=45]Targeting energy towers exacerbated the crisis[/size]
[size=45]Zahra Al-Bajari, a member of the Parliamentary Oil and Energy Committee, said in an interview with Al-Mada that "the electricity file is renewed every year as it appears in a worse form than the previous year and without serious solutions."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Bajari added, "The Ministry of Electricity has not developed a real strategic plan that works to improve electrical energy."[/size]
[size=45]Iraq relies on private generators, owned by traders or ordinary citizens, to cover part of the daily operation, as the national network does not provide full processing hours, as an alternative plan, while political networks and influential parties own some of those generators, which generate huge profits, with the high amounts collected Due to monthly subscriptions.[/size]
[size=45]The member of the House of Representatives points out, “The lack of equipment in electrical energy lies in the lack of reliance on internal sources of energy, and the lack of coordination and cooperation between the Ministry of Electricity and the Ministry of Oil regarding the supply of fuel to electrical stations (…).”[/size]
[size=45]And the representative from Basra Governorate pointed out that “among the other reasons that led to the weak electricity is the targeting of power towers, which leads to many stations being out of work.”[/size]
[size=45]In the past few weeks, power transmission lines have been subjected to a series of attacks, the latest of which was the bombing of the Salah al-Din Thermal Station in Samarra with "Katyusha" missiles on Sunday evening, which caused "serious damage" in addition to targeting the Diyala line - east of Baghdad, near the Khan Bani Saad area, and its departure from the service.[/size]
[size=45]Yesterday, Monday, a spokesman for the Ministry of Electricity, Ahmed Musa Al-Abadi, revealed the number of attacks on the infrastructure of the Ministry of Electricity during the past ten days, which led to a lack of energy supply to citizens.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Abadi said in a press statement followed by (Al-Mada), that "the targeting of infrastructure, transmission lines, and transformer stations for electricity greatly affected the work of the ministry and the supply of electric power," noting that "exceeding some provinces with the energy quotas allocated to them negatively affects the rest of the provinces."[/size]
[size=45]And he added: "We called on the security sectors, the Ministry of Interior and the Intelligence to open investigation files into these accidents and to secure protection for power stations and towers, through drone flights and the installation of thermal cameras." A spokesman for the Ministry of Electricity pointed out that “31 energy transmission lines were targeted with explosives in just 10 days, with transfer stations burning in Diyala,” returning that “there is a systematic attack and a public war on the infrastructure of the Ministry of Electricity.”[/size]
[size=45]Reliance on Iranian gas is another reason[/size]
[size=45]Member of Parliamentary Energy Zahra Al-Bajari continued her speech, saying, "The other reason for the weakness of electric power is the reliance on gas supply from Iran, while burning ten times as much in Iraq without investing it in electric stations, in addition to the lack of interest in refineries that contribute to generating electric power."[/size]
[size=45]The Ministry of Electricity produces about 4,500 to 5,000 megawatts, depending on Iranian gas, in addition to importing about 1,100 to 1,200 megawatts of electricity from Iran.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Bajari believes that "all solutions are immediate and not achieved, as there were no real plans to rely on clean energy and internal sources."[/size]
[size=45]The deputy in the House of Representatives holds the Ministry of Electricity responsible for the weakness in electric power, indicating that "the Ministry of Electricity is specialized in the production, distribution and transmission of electric energy."[/size]
[size=45]In turn, a specialist in economic affairs, Basem Jamil Antoine, said in an interview with Al-Mada that "there are malicious hands inside and outside Iraq, including some neighboring countries, working to keep Iraq as a consumer country to market their products in."[/size]
[size=45]Surprisingly, Antoine adds: "So far, about 60-70 billion dollars have been spent in the field of energy supply, and we have not reached the 20,000 megawatts!"[/size]
[size=45]The specialist in economic affairs points out, “The electricity file needs a political and economic study and an accurate diagnosis.”[/size]
[size=45]In addition, General Electric revealed, last Sunday, a comprehensive strategy that enables Iraq to foresee the future supported by cleaner energy sources. According to a statement issued by the company, and followed by (Al-Mada), "the plan includes a number of main pillars that support the Iraqi government's goals to develop the infrastructure of the energy sector in the country, enhance decarbonization efforts and diversify sources of power generation to end the electricity crisis."[/size]
[size=45]“We have consistently focused on supporting and developing the energy infrastructure in Iraq using comprehensive solutions, from securing financing to advanced technologies,” said Abdul Rahman Khalidi, chief technology officer of GE Gas Power in the EMEA region. It is therefore of paramount importance today to catalyze efforts to shift towards cleaner energy systems that yield three main benefits for the country, from using diversified sources of energy to meet growing demand, fulfilling decarbonization commitments by exploiting more efficient gas and clean energy resources, to laying the foundations for a stable architecture that advances The safe, reliable and cleaner energy of the future.[/size]
[size=45]He added that "these benefits formulate the ambitious strategy of (the energy sector transformation plan) in Iraq and embody the most comprehensive approaches to the energy sector and cover all solutions that Iraq can benefit from."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "the plan sets a strategic set of solutions and technologies designed in a special way and supports efforts to decarbonize the energy sector, which is unique in Iraq." From world-record-holding highly efficient gas turbines and modernization solutions to fast and flexible aero-derivatives, GE’s team of local and international experts can turn decarbonization efforts into a tangible achievement in Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]The “announcement of the energy sector transformation plan” came during the activities of the Iraq Reconstruction Conference that was held in the capital, Baghdad, a high-level summit organized through close cooperation with the Prime Minister’s Office and the country’s National Investment Commission.[/size]
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