Iraq power cuts getting worse, affecting lives

BAGHDAD, 21 August 2007 (IRIN) - In the backyard of the house of Jassim Abdel-Rahman, a 34-year-old resident of Sadr City, a suburb of Baghdad, there are always six or so jerry cans which he refills daily with petrol for his small generator.

With less than four hours electricity a day and with a newborn baby at home, Abdel-Rahman refuses to leave his family sweltering in the hot weather so he spends at least half his US$380 monthly salary repairing and refuelling his generator.

"Most of the time we do not have (mains) electricity in my home," Abdel-Rahman said. "Sometimes, when the generator is broken and it takes hours to fix, my children cry because of the hot weather, and we always throw away a huge amount of food because it goes off."

"Fuel is not available at petrol stations and I have to buy from the black market at a high price, money that I would rather use to feed my family," he said.

The power supply situation has been getting worse and in the past three months millions of people have been getting less than three hours of mains power a day, according to the Iraq Aid Association.