After the people in the region of Jizan had endured misery due to a power failure for a considerable period of time, and at the peak of summer with temperatures well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the Minister of Water and Electricity Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi said all the right things.
“We will hold company employees responsible if it is proven that their negligence caused the recent power cut in the Jizan region.”
“Electricity officials would not be allowed to get away with blaming technical faults or extreme hot weather.”
“Precautions should have been taken to confront such situations, which are both normal, at this time of year.”
“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.
“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.” He also acknowledged that this incident was “shameful.”
“The first to be held responsible will be the chairman if he is negligent in carrying out his duty.”
Now all this is exceptionally refreshing talk from a minister. Indeed, those responsible should be held accountable. But somewhere along the line, I believe he took a turn wide of the mark when he appointed Ali Saleh Al-Barrak, acting CEO of the Saudi Electricity Company, the same company responsible for this mess, to visit Jizan and investigate the reasons behind the power failure that virtually paralyzed all of the region.
Our well-fed bureaucracy is notorious for either stone-walling or playing the blame game. And no sooner was Mr. Al-Barrak singled out for the task of getting to the truth that he started with: “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.” Where are the specifics?
“The company is now linking various parts of the Kingdom with an integrated power grid to avoid similar power cuts in the future.”
“We have already sent about 15 technicians to Jizan to correct the situation as soon as possible.”
“The company has spent more than SR1 billion on electricity projects in the Jizan region.”
All the statements from the electricity company so far sound like a load of PR talk without any hope of getting to the truth. And I fear that eventually the investigation will prove that either this unfortunate incident was due to an “act beyond human control” or blamed on some lowly-ranked switch operator from Asia.
Yes, Mr. Minister. You did right to start with, but more substanial and result-oriented actions are needed for an effective follow-through.
