- Title: IRAQ-PROTEST/POWER CUTS Iraqis protest against power cuts
- Date: 31st July 2015
- Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JULY 31, 2015) (REUTERS FOR AGENCY POOL) DEMONSTRATORS CARRYING LARGE IRAQI FLAG AND CHANTING DEMONSTRATORS MARCHING AND CHANTING DEMONSTRATOR HOLDING A STRAW FAN DEMONSTRATORS MARCHING AND CLAPPING DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING AND CLAPPING DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING BANNER READING IN ARABIC: ''Our demands to improve services are legitimate and legal and have no forei
- Embargoed: 15th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA22DTMV30U8CPSR3CNYUIGR0EO
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad's Tahrir Square on Friday (July 31) to demand the government improve services including electricity and water which frequently fall short of their needs.
Protesters held banners supporting similar demonstrations held in Basra earlier this month in which a protester was killed and two others were wounded during a demonstration against power shortages.
One protester who did not give his name said demonstrators want Minister of Energy Qassem el-Fehdawi to face questioning as well as other members of the cabinet.
The protester was holding up an empty water heater in reference to Fehdawi's recent comments calling on Iraqis to save power by turning off water heaters.
"The protest is not just demanding to question Qassem el Fahdawi, but all of the government. The trade minister, the defence minister and the arms contracts worth 150 billion dollars that we signed. We want to put them on trial and get fair justice," he said.
A searing heat wave forecast to sweep through Iraq prompted the government to declare a four-day holiday starting on Thursday (July 30) and order regular power cuts at state institutions.
The government declared on Wednesday (July 29) a four-day weekend from Thursday (July 30) to Sunday (August 2) as temperatures were expected to surpass 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) for at least the second time in as many months.
The weekend in Iraq is Friday and Saturday.
Another protester said the problems were systemic and called for an entire overhaul of the government.
"The members of government that we have are corrupt. So the solution to this lies in not just by changing the minister of electricity or finance, it is by changing the entire government. This government is sectarian. Iraq needs a civic government to deal with the problems and the chaos in this country. Because this country is drowning in the divisions of sects and ethnicities and forces," he said.
Summer temperatures normally reach up to the mid-40s Celsius and can cause frequent power shortages because the electricity grid has been worn down by years of war and under-investment.
Electricity supplies collapsed in the chaos after the U.S. invasion in 2003 when power plants were looted or not properly maintained.
Islamist insurgents have targeted transmission towers and other infrastructure in subsequent years, while the Baghdad government has been unable to keep up with demand.
The electricity grid will probably supply only 11,000 megawatts of Iraq's 21,000-megawatt peak demand this summer, the electricity minister told parliament last week. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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