Government sinks in billions of electricity debt

YEMEN - The Ministry of Electricity, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Justice, has a plan to reduce its debts, collecting more than YR20 billion from individuals and institutions, said Awad al-Socatri, Minister of Electricity and Power at a press conference in Sana’a Sunday evening.

Debt is the major obstacle in the way of the ministry’s success. The major bodies in debts to the ministry include the following: the Ministry of General Labor and Road at YR2.6 billion, endowment offices and mosques at YR1.2 billion, Public Corporation for Water and Sanitation at YR1.9 billion,  Broadcast and Television Corporation at YR598 million and prominent social figures at YR208 million.

“The ministry’s debt collectors face difficulties in their jobs and get hurt, insulted, jailed, and have reported their cars stolen,” the ministry complained. They are trying to launch an awareness campaign through the media, mosques, microphones overarching neighborhoods, letters to social figures, and with the help of some executive government offices, as well.

There are other difficulties facing the ministry other than debts. Most generators in power stations have reached their life span and were supposed to be off-duty in 2007 as the consultative company suggested, said an official from the Ministry of Power and Electricity.

This was in response to the queries addressed by the Service Committee at the Parliament over the frequent power outage. As detailed in a report issued by the Parliament recently, other power units have been exceeding the working hours advised by the manufacture and which should have been maintained in 2005 but they are still working with low productive capacity.

There is also the unavailability of financial allocations to buy spare parts needed for the maintenance of several stations. The committee thinks that the problem is that there is no strategy for generating power that complies with the growth rate and the increasing demand of power.

They also see that there is no implementation of strategic projects in the generation sector, except those implemented in the 1980s. “The projects carried out so far have been temporary solutions, which resulted in more difficulties,” the committee added, holding the previous and current governments responsible over the past decades.

The ministry attributed those shortcomings to the hindrance of projects and the routine procedures by the Ministry of Finance in delivering the money, which once they get it, they are faced with another demand for power.

“At the national occasions, we get so much pressure in order to meet their needs that we often have to cancel some projects that are almost ready to be implemented,” the ministry further said. Al-Socatri said that the next year would be the Electricity Year, pointing out that the state budget for the year 2010 adopted 112 billion YR for the first time in addition to the foreign aid and loans worth of $500 million for electricity projects. 

The complexities of technical projects and failure of power sector, which previously grew by 3% to meet the demand for energy which is 9%, have decreased thanks to the issuance of the Electricity Act in March this year in conjunction with a strategic plan for short-term plan for 2012, and a long one for 2025, al-Socatri added, stressing that the Act along with the plan would provide room for private sector participation in investment in the electricity to keep pace with the growing demand for power, and expecting a decline in the energy deficit next year to 130 MW compared to 250 this year.

“The Ministry of Electricity is fully committed to the Tender Law and there are some procedures that will affect the sources of imbalances in the ministry in addition to the supervision of the Parliament and the Central Authority for Control and Auditing,” said al-Socatri, noting the ministry has adopted the rural electricity strategy in collaboration with cooperative societies which will begin next year in Ibb governorate in order to alleviate the burden of the public foundation for electricity and address the problems of project management.

He stated that there are a thousand board distributors for generating electricity from solar energy and $9 million earmarked for expansion in this regard for houses scattered in villages. For the energy purchased, al-Socatri affirmed it is a must to cover the deficit, adding, “Recently, we got tenders of 50 megawatts which al-Ahram company won, one of 20 megawatts for al-Sakr, and the other one of 50 megawatts for other companies. “The energy purchased,” al-Socatri continues, “is an expensive choice due to the absence of plans made in advance.”     

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