The man bringing electricity to Iraq
Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the country's national grid supplied the capital, Baghdad, with between 16 and 20 hours of electricity each day. But more than a decade after the fall of Saddam Hussein, electricity supplies have dropped to an average of only one hour of power for every four hours of the day […]Rashed Radwan writes for Al-Jazeera:
Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the country's national grid supplied the capital, Baghdad, with between 16 and 20 hours of electricity each day. But more than a decade after the fall of Saddam Hussein, electricity supplies have dropped to an average of only one hour of power for every four hours of the day - that's six hours over a 24-hour period.
Hadi is known as the "generator man". He makes a living supplying others with electricity.
"Iraq is a very rich country, but life here is very difficult," he says. "We don't have the basic necessities covered to live with a minimum of dignity. Electricity is one of our biggest problems. The lack of energy doesn't let Iraq move ahead. It's a weird situation. We have so much oil but we don't have electricity."
A 10 amp domestic subscription to a private generator can cost anywhere between $60 and $100 a month. That's a luxury few can afford. But Hadi has a licence from the government that allows him to run a generator and provide electricity to others. In fact, he has two generators.
