Electricity crisis a 'social bomb'
2010-07-21 16:01
Dakar – Senegal's sweltering hot season has arrived along with daily power cuts described as a social time bomb, interrupting businesses and sending angry citizens into the streets in protest.
"Sometimes the electricity is cut twice a day for several hours," said Mohamed Balde, a security guard in the foyer of an apartment building situated opposite one of the city's biggest hotels.
"For the elevator to work and water to be pumped up to the higher floors I put 60,000 CFA ($110) of diesel in the generator every four days," he said.
But a generator is a luxury for many who, when the power goes, can do nothing but wait.
In his small workshop in the suburb of Niaye Thioker, tailor Mamadou Diallo's sewing machines have once again ground to a halt and his orders are falling behind.
"There has been no electricity since noon," the 52-year-old says at around 17:00. "It has been like that every day for a week."
With average daily temperatures hovering around 30 degrees Celsius and high humidity, frustration boiled over at the weekend when an angry crowd took to the streets, burning tyres and barricading streets in clashes with police.
A west African human rights group, Raddho, accused police of beating a young man to death during the protest.
Ministry drawn into squabble
The interior ministry was drawn into a squabble over who killed the youth, issuing a statement which refused to lay blame on the authorities for his death.
"At this time, no objective element enables us to lay responsibility for this death on anyone," it said.
A leader of the Sutelec electricity workers' union, Aliou Ba, said the clock was ticking on a "social time bomb".
The death had brought to a head a situation that has been allowed to fester.
While state-controlled energy provider Senelec struggled to provide ample electricity for years, chief executive Seydina Kane said power cuts were mainly due to the poor quality of fuel imported to run the power plants.
However he also admitted to "cash flow problems" in the company.
Sutulec's Ba told AFP: "The best way to defuse this social time bomb is to repair" ailing energy facilities which have been damaged by the poor quality fuel.
"Senelec has heavily invested in diesel-run power plants which are too sensitive, and the purchase of fuel costs 75% of its annual turnover."
Rising demand
As ageing power plants are unable to keep up with rising demand, a 125 megawatt coal-fired plant is scheduled to be built and will only be ready by the end of 2012.
As protests reach a crescendo, lawmakers have asked the government to explain itself during a session of parliament which started on Tuesday.
"The national representation is simply playing its role in challenging the executive on matters that are dear to the Senegalese, including energy issues and recurring power outages," said Antoine Ngor Faye, spokesperson for the national assembly where the ruling party holds a large majority.
Meanwhile Senegalese are threatening to stop paying electricity bills, often exorbitant despite the unreliable power supply.
In Thies, 70km from Dakar, a group of tailors has called on other artisans to stop paying their accounts at Senelec, which has earned the nickname "the company of darkness" over the past few years.
An imam from the outskirts of Dakar, Moustapha Sarr, who spearheaded a massive protest against rising electricity prices in 2008, warned against summoning government "for superficial discussions designed to placate the people."
"In late July, we will decide whether to call for people to stop paying their electricity bills," he said.
On Wednesday, another march in Dakar is planned by a Committee of Intellectuals to protest the power cuts.
- SAPA