General Electricity Corporation struggles to collect YR17 billion of debts

YEMEN - A number of public, government agencies, private institutions and individuals are indebted to the General Electricity Corporation amounting to more than 17 billion riyals, equivalent to more than $85 million.

The small consumers' debt approached YR 9 billion, which are followed by the public sector by YR 7.5 billion. Major consumers occupied third place in indebtedness amounting to 612 million riyals.

The Ministry of Public Works and Roads came on top of the debt, with 2.5 billion riyals, followed by the Ministry of Endowment (mosques) at a rate of a YR 1.25 billion. The General Establishment for Water and Sanitation is indebted to the Corporation close to YR 2 billion. It is followed by the Public Corporation for Radio and Television with YR 600 million.

According to a report issued last month by the Parliamentary Services Committee, 294 social personalities were indebted to the Electricity Corporation, totaling to YR 208 million.

The parliamentary report criticized the failure of the Corporation in updating their collection system in all the country's governorates. There was criticization on their ability to cope with the immense increase in consumers' number, leading to the loss of large sums of money and a great amount of the generated energy, where there was a decrease in the percentage of invoices paid in Amran to 60%.

The report attributed the continued high indebtedness of the Electricity Corporation to their failure to take legal actions against senior consumers' debts and abstainers' payments.

The report pointed out that non-collection of the debt contributes to the large increase in the inability of the General Electric corporation where, if collected such large amounts will decrease the corporation's deficits.

The report noted that many of the ministries and governmental institutions have substantial debt to the General Electricity Corporation for their electric power consumption amounting to roughly YR 9 billion. It criticized Ministry of Finance's slowdown in deducting the debts from the central budgets of those agencies. It was found that there were long administrative procedures to be taken by the Ministry of Finance in the process of deduction.

The General People's Conference's MP, Mohammed Al-Naqib, called for the hand over of the Electricity Corporation to a foreign company, pointing out that the Ministry of Electricity’s local staff strained state's budget, including the loss of around YR 110 billion of oil derivatives.

The Chairman of the Services Committee in the Parliament, Mohsen al-Bahr reiterated that the problem of electricity in Yemen is essentially due to the absence of a strategic plan; the last plan dates back to 1984. He pointed out that the solutions since the eighties tended to patch policies for the reform of this sector.

Opposition, MP Mohammed al-Hazmi, wondered why there were 14 transfers stopped by the electricity staff from the Supreme National Authority for Corruption Combat SNACC. The Minister of Electricity, Awadh Al-Soctri, responded saying that the cover-up of corruption was not true.

Soctri explained during the parliament debate, that the service report, the blackouts and the delay in the Marib gas station in July, are all because of the burning of a ship carrying special equipments for the station. In addition, there was an attack on the transfer plans.

MP Abdulkadir Doais demanded that the report of the Services Committee be submitted to the prosecution, for criminal measures against Safer company.

The parliamentary report quoted Safer Oil Company as saying that the solution to the problem that accompanied the operation of Marib gas station in last September needs six months to link the feeder line to the station line. It also needs a new line of 838 meters instead of the original 300 meters, because the new line will be transferring pure gas from a new laboratory.

Safer said that it is carrying out urgent actions since the tenth of this month to clean the pipe. It indicated the need for installing a device for separating the gas from liquids and impurities as well as the establishment of a chimney. It called the Ministry of Electricity after cleaning, for the continuous use of the gas in order to avoid repeating the problem.

Related Content

•  Tribesmen abduct SJC head's brother
•  7 people arrested for possession of weapons
•  Al Qaeda member arrested
•  70 Ethiopians arrested in Yemen
•  Five killed, three wounded in floods
•  Eritrean pirates hijack 4 Yemeni fishing boats
•  Eritrean pirates capture 6 Yemeni fishing boats
•  Diesel smuggler seized in Hadramout
•  Documentaries enhance youths’ voice
•  Two and half tons of corrupt goods spoiled, municipality director of Addalea