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Kuwait – The growing demand for electricity in Kuwait is believed to have sharply increased in recent years and with summer approaching many are beginning to wonder if they will have to suffer power cuts.The Ministry of Electricity recently stated that there is a growing demand for power by more than 10 percent due to industrial development, especially the increase in industrial areas and population.

The Assistant Undersecretary for Technical Services at the Ministry of Electricity and Water Iyad ALـFalah stated that the ministry will resort to ”programmed power cuts” next summer only as a “last option.”

Al Watan Daily spoke to several citizens to assess their thoughts on the constant power cuts Kuwait has been witnessing.

Osama, a Kuwaiti citizen in his early 40s, noted that he and his family have suffered power cuts a few times and thinks that the power outages are ridiculous, considering the wealth of Kuwait. “I think many would agree with me that Kuwait is an oilـrich country, it is small and society consume little electricity,” he explained.

Osama further noted that since many underprivileged countries have their electricity functioning in order, or at least most of the time, this naturally suggests that Kuwait should not have to suffer electrical issues. “I strongly believe that Kuwait should do something to avert power cuts; surely for a country that is as generous as ours where wealth is concerned ـ programmed power cuts can absolutely be avoided,” Osama ended.

Rukiya is a mother of 6 children and who has also suffered power cuts, which has often frustrated her because her children heavily rely on her for various things, including food preparation. Rukiya noted that there is no mistake about it; Kuwait should not have to make people suffer, especially in summer where temperatures can get quite nasty.

“I must say that Kuwait with all its might, power and wealth should have long time ago planned ahead. But then again, what is our major problem in Kuwait? Bad planning as always! This seems to be a ”saga” that never ends. The authorities and officials usually only realize that there is a disaster in Kuwait after it spreads its damage,” Rukiya lamented.

She further pointed out that Kuwait has so many options which are being overlooked as to avoid programmed power cuts. “They can develop the power industry by using several options which western countries are applying, such as, solar energy which is proving to be an ally for the environment,” Rukiya concluded.

A further voice herein belongs to Saad, who is young and energetic; his opinion is slightly different to the voices above. Saad pointed out that people, themselves, waste so much energy in Kuwait. He further noted that there is a lack of awareness in Kuwait and that people simply abuse the electricity, which is causes consequences on society. Saad further believes that the country should have campaigns regarding electrical and water consumption as to enlighten society about how “abusing electricity could negatively impact on us.”

“Furthermore, I believe we have a spoiled society who does not appreciate electricity and water, and how would they? They were born into wealth and got whatever they wanted and I am quite confident that even as we speak they are just going ahead doing their regular thing; that is, heavily running the water tap, turning all the lights on in the house as if it were

Christmas night, playing the music on in the background, albeit no one is listening and so forth,” Saad remarked.

To conclude his statement, Saad asked: “Do you think anyone cares? NO! And that is the real problem, so before the country wastes its time, looking for alternatives and purchases noisy generators, perhaps they should first and foremost educate society about how precious power is,” Saad ended.

Bashar, the last voice herein noted that electricity can be a tricky concept. “Yes, Kuwait is an oilـrich country and yes Kuwait is home to merely three million people but there is bad management in Kuwait,” he pointed out.

He further explained that: “Kuwait is a country which is quite popular with buying new technology, introducing new brands and constructing new buildings, ـ having said that though, Kuwait”s problem is they never look beyond the surface of things or do enough research,” Bashar added.

Further explaining his point, Bashar explained that: “For example, buying new things, and employing new people for jobs, entails lots of intricate research and the implementation and the creating of space and so forth. I think Kuwait does things randomly and spontaneously and that is why there are always so many problems in the infrastructure of the country,” Bashar ended.

By Ghenwah Jabouri – Al Watan