JEDDAH, 19 May 2007 — Citizens in Al-Laith, a town about 170 km south of Jeddah, are in the dark about why their electricity is turned off three or four times everyday, according to Al-Madinah newspaper.
They say frequent power outages have been going on for about fourth months, but increased noticeably in the past three weeks.
Al-Laith resident Faiz Muhammad Al-Mahdawi said the outages last between 10 minutes to three hours. They usually occur early in the afternoon when it is very hot.
“We are tired of this,” he said. “It’s quite hot and humid now.”
“The electricity company praises itself every day in print and television ads,” said another resident, Hussain Muhammad Al-Zubaidy. “They claim to provide the best service to the citizens.”
Al-Zubaidy blasted the power company for disconnecting electricity to people who fail to pay, or are late in paying: “How can they be so aggressive for such a bad service?”
Some of the residents said they were considering a lawsuit against the Water and Electricity Ministry. Officials refused to comment on the frequent outages.
