Damascus faces continual power outages
Power outages in Damascus are unbearable, yet the government just directs blame at the opposition, failing to provide solutions.
DAMASCUS, Syria — Homework and house chores are no longer the daily duties of Ammar, a high school student who hopes to one day attend medical school. Recurring electricity outages up to 15 hours a day are maddening in his neighborhood of Jaramana, about 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) northeast of Damascus. The city sits in total darkness at night, further compounding the opposition's daily shelling.
Nights in Jaramana and Damascus and its countryside are no longer glamorous as they were before the war. Damascus is now divided along sectarian, military and administrative lines, though all these areas share the constant power outages, whose duration depends on the proximity to the city center, wealthy areas and police centers. Power outages can also depend on the mood of electricity workers; some areas in the countryside are without electricity for days or weeks.
Ammar is surprised by the favoritism involved in electricity distribution. He blames the government, which, after four years of war, is still unable to control the electricity rationing process. He told Al-Monitor, “There are two branches of electricity on al-Rawda Street in Jaramana. One branch applies rationing 4 to 6 hours per day and rarely malfunctions, and another branch gets power for 15 minutes followed by 4 to 5 hours of power cuts for the whole day. Solving this problem with those responsible for the power transformers has become an impossible dream for me.”
The Syrian Ministry of Electricity and Energy in Damascus — which routinely asks citizens to pay their accumulated electric bills — is currently busy issuing statements condemning “terrorist acts” carried out by opposition gunmen in areas under the regime’s control. The ministry accuses them of blowing up power stations, and asserts that the government is trying to find solutions to the problem through stations that are still operable. The ministry states that it is attempting to use high-power transformers that can cover larger areas for longer periods.
