In the aftermath of relieving Minister of Electricity and Water Abdullah Al-Hussain from his post and appointing the agriculture minister as the acting Minister of Electricity and Water, I believe it is high time that we considered integrating the two ministries in one administration.
We know very well that the Ministry of Agriculture is wholly dependent on water, which is scarce in our country. In the past, share of the agricultural sector in the total water consumption had reached 80 percent while the share of the agricultural production in the local demand didn’t exceed 10 percent annually.
The common factor between the two ministries is power and scarcity. However, electricity and water ministry is completely different in its approach, marketing and management. What is required at present is power conservation not because it is scarce but because the cost of its production is very high. We have an electricity company and a National Water Company; however, the gap between the two bodies is very wide, which makes implementation of one policy on both impossible.
I don’t deny that the water company has been successful in managing many projects, but I object to the nature of its relation with the Ministry of Electricity and Water. We know that the ministry is fully in charge of management and implementation and that the company is simply a selling interface without any power to market its product. This fact has surfaced during the recent problem after changes in water fare. During this problem, the water company couldn’t face criticism. Consequently, the ministry had to intervene, although this intervention and approach didn’t satisfy the consumers, and ultimately the minister was relieved from his post.
As such, defining success of the company doesn’t materialize by changing its staff or management, but by organizing its function and ties with the ministry, especially when we know that it is responsible for a limited number of cities and shoulders the responsibility of other sectors like sewerage.
It is necessary that the national water company, the authority of water desalination and water sewerage should be placed back fully under the authority of the ministry instead of restructuring them as independent bodies. Afterward, this experiment could be reviewed to understand deviations. This is a reasonable solution instead of changing portfolios and names.
In general, I support unifying the ministries, which offer similar services to ensure consistency in the concept of national transformation.
We know very well that the Ministry of Agriculture is wholly dependent on water, which is scarce in our country. In the past, share of the agricultural sector in the total water consumption had reached 80 percent while the share of the agricultural production in the local demand didn’t exceed 10 percent annually.
The common factor between the two ministries is power and scarcity. However, electricity and water ministry is completely different in its approach, marketing and management. What is required at present is power conservation not because it is scarce but because the cost of its production is very high. We have an electricity company and a National Water Company; however, the gap between the two bodies is very wide, which makes implementation of one policy on both impossible.
I don’t deny that the water company has been successful in managing many projects, but I object to the nature of its relation with the Ministry of Electricity and Water. We know that the ministry is fully in charge of management and implementation and that the company is simply a selling interface without any power to market its product. This fact has surfaced during the recent problem after changes in water fare. During this problem, the water company couldn’t face criticism. Consequently, the ministry had to intervene, although this intervention and approach didn’t satisfy the consumers, and ultimately the minister was relieved from his post.
As such, defining success of the company doesn’t materialize by changing its staff or management, but by organizing its function and ties with the ministry, especially when we know that it is responsible for a limited number of cities and shoulders the responsibility of other sectors like sewerage.
It is necessary that the national water company, the authority of water desalination and water sewerage should be placed back fully under the authority of the ministry instead of restructuring them as independent bodies. Afterward, this experiment could be reviewed to understand deviations. This is a reasonable solution instead of changing portfolios and names.
In general, I support unifying the ministries, which offer similar services to ensure consistency in the concept of national transformation.
