Deir ezZor’s Hajin suffers electricity shortage and high prices
Deir ez-Zor – Jindar Abdulqader – NPA
Residents of the town of Hajin, eastern Deir ez-Zor, suffer insufficient electric current, as they depend on “subscription generators” in the absence of governmental electricity, electricity generators operate for 6 hours a day at a price of SYP 2500 per amp, equivalent to $4 per month.
High cost
According to people of the town, the price of a single amp is very expensive compared to other areas, due to the high price of diesel that the owners of the generators purchase from the free market, and because Deir ez-Zor Civil Council doesn’t allocate quantities of diesel fuel to the owners of generators like other cities and governorates.
The network of electricity and electric transformers that supply the region has been damaged, as a result of the fierce battles between the Global Coalition backed Syrian Democratic forces and the Islamic State’s militants during sporadic periods.
Therefore, the residents rely completely on the generators to be supplied with electricity.
Hamoud al-Hesya 31-year-old, a resident of Hajin, told North-Press that he possesses a generator of 310 amp distributed to 60 houses and operates for only five hours per day.
Al-Hesya said that he sells a single amp for SYP 2,500 explaining that the high price of the amp is related to the high prices of diesel they purchase from traders, who bring fuel from refineries area in al-Tayyana town, at prices up to SYP 32,000, about $53 per barrel.
Demands
Al-Hesya pointed out that the People’s Council of Hajin of Deir Ez-Zor Civil Council did not secure diesel for generators while demanding that it should be secured to them like the other regions east of the Euphrates to alleviate the suffering of the people.
While Aboud Al-Issa, 40 years old, a resident of Hajin said that he buys 3 amperes at a cost of SYP 7,500 per month, equivalent to $13, as they are not enough to turn on ACs, water coolers or fans, only operate the lighting of the house and the television, calling upon the concerned parties to take the necessity of securing electricity into consideration.
The correspondent of “North Press Agency” could not obtain an official permit from People’s Council in Hajin, because there was no office for fuel and generators.
The prices of the amperes in the various cities of Al-Jazira region are approximately up to SYP 1,500 per month for a single amp and it operates up to about nine hours per day before a decision was made to reduce the price to SYP 750 after a significant improvement in the governmental electricity supply in the region.