He said it was common practice for other countries to observe Earth Hour by disconnecting the power in its main cities for an hour from 8:30 p.m. to give more focus to the environment, draw attention to pollution and preserve the purity of earth.
Al-Barak said participation by countries on the day should not be decided by the electricity companies but by the subscribers themselves, where municipalities will turn off street lamps and landlords will turn off the hallway lights in their buildings.
He said the Kingdom’s participation on the day is symbolic and is decided by the subscribers. It gives me pleasure to inform the esteemed electricity company that I have no desire whatsoever to participate in Earth Hour because I have been forced to observe the event more than three times this week in three different districts in Riyadh and at different times of the day and night.
Each time, this imposed Earth Hour went on for more than 60 minutes. I think I have done my duty toward Mother Earth thanks to the Saudi Electricity Company!
I am not against preserving the environment but I think I have done more than my share toward the earth and all other solar planets.
Since I have no incentive to provide more sacrifices, I will not turn off the electricity in my house for Earth Hour on Saturday evening. I will just listen to the ironic statements of the electricity company’s officials while they talk exuberantly about the moments they love most, which is power cuts.
I will never participate in the Earth Day until the company organizes an event where consumers can turn the tables on SEC officials. During this event, electricity will be cut off for an hour on a summer day from the staff and officials of the company, so they can understand how consumers feel when their power is cut. They should also be made to relive the agony of waiting for the power to come back on.
If it were an environmental group managing Earth Hour in the Kingdom, I would have gladly thought about accepting their invitation to participate. When I came to realize that SEC would take all the plaudits, I decided I would keep my lights on to be able to read the white and blue and electricity bills that keep coming from the company.
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