JEDDAH, 7 August 2003 — Minister of Water and Electricity Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi said yesterday that action would be taken against negligent employees responsible for a major power cut in the Jizan region last Sunday.
“We will hold company employees responsible if it is proven that their negligence caused the recent power cut in the Jizan region,” the minister said, adding that a committee had been set up to investigate the matter. Gosaibi said electricity officials would not be allowed to get away by blaming technical faults or extreme hot weather, saying precautions should have been taken to confront such situations, which are both normal, at this time of year.
“I understand the difficulties suffered by the people of Jizan as a result of the power failure. Their daily lives came to a standstill for reasons they had no control over.” The minister described the incident as “shameful.”
“The Kingdom’s weather is well-known and cannot be used as an excuse. Citizens will not accept these old excuses and justifications. Technical faults are to be expected with all equipment and should not be blamed for human weakness and failure,” he said.
Gosaibi, who is also chairman of the Saudi Electricity Company, affirmed that no company staff enjoyed immunity. “The first to be held responsible will be the chairman if he is negligent in carrying out his duty.”
The ministry has instructed the Electricity Service Authority and the Electricity Affairs Agency to assess the technical situation of the company and its ability to deal with problems. The assessment will be completed within three months. The minister said the tariff charged by the company covered all its requirements. “The company employees enjoy a number of benefits, and the greater their benefits, the greater their responsibility”
The Arabic newspaper Al-Watan, reported yesterday that a committee had been set up by Gosaibi to investigate the reasons for the Jizan power cut and to take measures to prevent a repeat of the incident in future. The paper said Gosaibi had asked Ali Saleh Al-Barrak, acting executive president of the Saudi Electricity Company, to visit Jizan immediately to discover the real reason for the power cut that affected virtually all of the southern Jizan region. “The Electricity Company should exert the utmost effort to end the power crisis in the region as quickly as possible,” the minister was quoted as saying.
Al-Barrak said the power cut was caused by a technical fault. “When the company learned about the problem, it tried to link Jizan with the power grid in Asir but that took a lot of time,” he told Al-Watan.
The company established a new electricity generating plant in the Jizan region two months ago, Al-Barrak said, adding that the new plant was now operating. The company has called for tenders to set up two more plants in the region.
“The company is now linking various parts of the Kingdom with an integrated power grid to avoid similar power cuts in the future,” he said. “We have already sent about 15 technicians to Jizan to correct the situation as soon as possible,” he said. The company has spent more than SR1 billion on electricity projects in the Jizan region. Last year the SEC provided electricity connections to 5,000 subscribers and 400 villages in the region.
