Raqqa Electricity; a Devastated Reality Amid the Blackmail of Generators Owners
Al-Raqqa – North-Press Agency
Ahmad AlHassan/ Abdul Rahman Al Jassim
As a result of the harsh situation of war in the city of Raqqa, the electricity sector in the city has been affected by up to 97% according to initial estimates.
Since the establishment of the Civil Council in April 2017, the Energy Committee has started working, has supplied electricity to the main station, It has also repaired the power station of “Raqqa Two”, located south of the Euphrates River, and the power station “Raqqa three” located northern Raqqa, where electricity was supplied to most of Raqqa countryside as an initial step to the work of the Committee.
The second phase of the work was to supply the city with electricity, which was supported by the Basic Services Organization, which targeted the neighborhoods of Al-Mashlab, Moukhtalata, and Al-Sinaa in the eastern part of the city, the number of beneficiaries of this step reached to 3750 people.
However, these three neighborhoods make up about 15 percent of the city’s population, while the other major neighborhoods that form the city’s core are still without electricity for the third year in a row, such as Al-Tayyar, eastern Sabahia, Hiseywa, Addiriyah, al-Romania and al-Iddikhar in the western part, as well as al-Fardous neighborhood, Althakana, al-Haramiya, al-Bado, Rumaila, al-Hani, al-Shakhani, al-Ajili, and the Old Wall neighborhoods in the center of the city, and Al-Akrad, AL-Tawsia, Rumaila and al-Kitar in the northern part of the city, in addition to the market center neighborhoods such as Tal-Abyad Street, Mansur Street, February 23 Street, al-Quwatli Street and other neighborhoods in the city center.
The residents of these neighborhoods still suffer from the power outages and the blackmail of the owners of generators.
In this regard, Engineer Issa Al-Hassan, head of the city’s Electricity Center, told North Press; “The reason for the delay in the supply of electricity to the neighborhoods of Raqqa is due to the massive destruction of the electricity networks, and the lack of available capabilities,” he added, “The Energy Committee in Raqqa suffers from a severe shortage of appropriate engineering machines, and experts in the field of electricity, while the ground networks in the city center require special equipment, and we have only one vehicle in the process of maintenance.”
As for future plans for lighting the city, Al-Hasan explained, “We are working now on the third phase of our plan, targeting the western neighborhoods of the city, which includes the neighborhoods of Addiriyah, Al-Tayyar, al-Panorama, and eastern Swahili, a double voltage network 20KV was connected across the Euphrates river from the station of “Raqqa Two” south of the Euphrates river to the north of the river, in Al-Jisr al-Jadeed area,” he said.
Al-Hasan adds, “The project is in its final phase, after the installation of 200m of land cables in the southern side of the river and the setting up of two towers in the northern side.”
Then he explained that electricity workshops are installing air networks to supply the western neighborhoods of the city.
The workshops are also working on the rehabilitation of power station “Raqqa Four” in al-Quwatli Street, southern the city center, which supplies the entire city center, also preparing the main station located next to the Sugar Factory northern the city to supply the northern neighborhoods.
Al-Hasan noted that the specialized electricity teams are currently conducting comprehensive studies of the electricity situation in the neighborhoods, including the statistic of damages, and the budget to start the lighting project.
While the residents suffer the blackmail of the owners of generators, as they say, as well as the variations in the prices per each week, and the disparity of operating hours between one generator to the other.
Abdulrahman al-Salem, a resident of Rumaila neighborhood, spoke about his suffering from power cuts and the extortion of generators’ owners, “Prices vary every week between SYP 700-500 (about $1 and a half) per amp, with an operating period not exceeding eight hours.”
“Prices also vary between different neighborhoods, and each house needs amperes to meet its electricity needs and to operate refrigerators and air conditioners,” he said.
Shaaban al-Ismail, a resident of Moataz Street, complained to North-Press saying, “The lack and irregularity of operating hours often lead to food corruption due to the high-temperature degrees while we are obliged to buy ice molds to get cold water.”
In addition to the noise and pollution caused by these generators, which are often located at the buildings’ doors or in public streets.
Abdulkarim al-Khamisi, the owner of a generator (AMP) in al-Kitar Street, explained the price variation, saying, “The difference in prices is due to the size of the generator and its location, some investors rent a piece of land from the municipality, which leads them to increase prices sometimes, we also receive sometimes bad diesel, which leads to generators’ breakdowns, and all these things are reflected upon the citizens,” he said.