DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Abdullah Al-Nu’aimi, a pseudonym for a displaced person from the city of Homs who lives in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, is unable to subscribe to the electricity of private generators (getting amperes) or buy solar panels that would reduce the severity of the high temperatures because they are “very expensive.”
However, the high prices of amperes and solar panels in light of the difficult living situation, prompts al-Nu’aimi to search for cheaper alternatives, as he relies on a battery that he operates at night via lasers to light up his house.
During the daylight, he remains without electricity, and he and his family endure the high temperatures, which reach more than 40 degrees in the summer.
For more than eight years, residents and displaced people in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor have completely suffered from power outage as a result of the bombing of the electrical installation during the battles between the Syrian government forces and the armed opposition groups.
The damage to the electrical facility prompted some of them to subscribe to the electricity of amperes (buying few amperes from private generators), while the more affluent people installed solar panels as an alternative to regular electricity.
The price of one solar panel ranges between $ 70 and $ 100, depending on its type, while the price of one ampere is 6,000 Syrian pound (SYP) per month.
In light of the lack of electricity, the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor is witnessing a severe crisis of the ice cubes factories.
Al-Nu’aimi indicated that his living condition does not allow him to even buy ice cubes, not to mention the food that we daily throw away because it spoils.
Khaled al-Dawwas, director of electricity in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, attributed the reason of power outage to the failure of the turbines in al-Omar oil field as a result of the battles took place between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Islamic State Organization (ISIS).
“The field includes gas, and if one or two turbines are available, we can solve the electricity problem in the area,” he added.
He pointed out that the high prices of turbines prevent them from being able to secure them, which are “very expensive”, calling on the Global Coalition to secure them.
In contrast to the eastern countryside, electricity is available in the northern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, where there is electricity most of the time due to the presence of turbines in Rumailan field which [are] feeding it, according to al-Dawwas.
[Mean]while the western countryside suffers from electricity rationing, as it runs two hours and cuts off four hours a day due to the deliberate seizure of water by Turkey.
For his part, Hazem al-Midan, a resident of the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, installed solar panels, “but sometimes they are not sufficient in the winter when it is cloudy.”
“But it is better than generators,” he said.
