JEDDAH, 8 November — The first day of Ramadan did not start well for at least one district in Jeddah where the residents had to go without electricity for nine long hours.
Iftar preparations and get-togethers had to be put on hold because of the power cut. Residents on one side of Abdul Aziz Al-Khereji St. in Al-Zahra district had to sweat it out from noon till 9 p.m., putting up with great inconvenience, especially those who depended on electrical appliances in the kitchen and those who had guests.
Al-Anoud, a housewife, spoke to Arab News about her misery. “It was unbelievable, we had to cancel our plans. When the children arrived from school we all stayed outdoors. What was really unnerving was that we had to spend three hours in the dark. Luckily, the weather was not very hot. I think if the electricity company wanted to carry out maintenance work, they should have informed us so we would be prepared for this problem.”
When Arab News spoke to the emergency department at the Electricity Company in the Western Province, the breakdown was confimed. Officials said it was caused by a major problem in the main electricity station and it took nine hours to bring power back on. They also said that the company did its best to solve the problem as quickly as possible.
