Bad governance behind electricity shortages, says IWA

KABUL Barishna Sherkat (DABS) has been unable to provide government’s electricity to 65 percent of the country’s population due to bad governance, a corruption watchdog said on Saturday.

Integrity Watch Afghanistan, a non-government organization, in its report released on Saturday said the country’s nearly 98 percent population availed electricity from government, private sectors and solar energy.

The report says: “In 2015, the unity government leaders promised provision of government electricity to 80 percent people in urban areas and to 50 percent people in rural areas, but due to lack of good governance, today 65 percent people of the country lack government electricity.”

The report said currently 519 megawatts of electricity is produced domestically --- 51 percent is produced from fuel and 49 percent from water and 2000 megawatts is imported. Afghanistan spent $255 million on purchasing electricity in 2018.

Problems plaguing power substations

The report also said power pylons have been erected on private land for substations and the pylons were being damaged due to their location in farm fields.

The report said power sub-stations in Pul-i-Alam, Syedabad and Ghazni city had no fire doors and only substandard fire extinguishers were available in these facilities.

It said some pylons have not been erected properly and some under trees and in the middle of homes and buildings.

The IWA report said the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had allocated $95 million for the thermal power sub-station in Deh Sabz district of Kabul, but the project consumed $335 million.

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