BAGHDAD // Another summer is on its way and for Iraqis that means the grim and inevitable prospect of temperatures so high that days and nights become a kind of physical endurance test.
The only thing that makes an Iraqi summer tolerable for human beings is working air conditioning and, across large parts of the country, there is still not enough electricity to run the energy-hungry coolers.
Despite hundreds of millions of dollars in investment by the Iraqi government aimed at getting the national grid fully operational, most neighbourhoods still rely heavily on small diesel generators run by local businessmen. The loud drone of their engines, just as much as a persistent threat of violence, has become one of the facts of everyday life here.
"The national grid is effectively unoperational as far as I'm concerned," said Abu Ala al Zubaidi, a resident of the Noaab Zbbat area in east Baghdad. "We have the big generators in that don't exactly give you enough power for everything in your house, but it's better than nothing."
Since the 2003 invasion, Iraqis have spent countless hours devising neighbourhood power schemes, and most have finally settled on a system that allows them to switch from the national to the local grid depending on power supplies. When the national power cuts out, an alarm sounds and people rush to flip a switch that shifts their house onto the local supply.
But the high cost of the local fill-in electricity means few families can afford to have a 24-hour supply. That is reserved for government offices and US military bases.
"We can't afford to have power all the time, and without power we don't get water pumped to the house, we can't run our air conditioners," said Mr al Zubaidi.
The Iraqi government has struggled with a series of coinciding difficulties with the electrical system. The grid was already old and insufficient for national needs and required both new power stations and infrastructure to get electricity into homes. Insurgent attacks against energy facilities and massive corruption have undermined efforts at modernisation. On top of that, demand for power has soared, which means that although production has risen, it has not kept pace with consumption.
"We need the government to work harder to get us the electricity we need, it is an urgent priority for us," Mr al Zubaidi said. "In the summer it is hell for us all because of the lack of power. It is almost impossible to live with sometimes only an hour of electricity."
At the ministry of electricity in Baghdad, Sultan Aziz, a spokesman, said he was "optimistic" and that spending plans would increase power supplies to Iraqis before the summer reached its peak.
"Within a month we expect to be able to provide citizens with no less than 12 hours a day and although the path has been difficult, we are optimistic about a better future," he said in an interview.
In February it was announced that Iraq's national power output had reached 6,760 megawatts, 2,500 more than was generated before the US-led invasion. The extra production due to come on line this summer will add 2,000MW. Although significant, it will not be enough to stop the current need to ration energy.
The Iraqi authorities have also installed hundreds of solar power systems that run street lights and other facilities, including a Baghdad medical clinic. Yet Mr Aziz said funding for energy projects was still short of requirements, with plans put on hold because money had not been allocated for them by the prime minister, Nouri al Maliki.
"The ministry of electricity still suffers from a lack of funds by the prime minister and we are waiting for money that will allow us to sign contracts that will increase power supply this summer," he said.
As with other arms of government in Iraq, there are barely concealed disputes between ministries and problems with co-ordinating reconstruction efforts. The electricity ministry spokesman was quick to point out that the ministry of oil and the ministry of the interior had to pull their weight if the country was to get more power.
"The ministry of oil gets us the fuel for our power stations and the ministry of interior is responsible for protecting the power lines, that is their jurisdiction not ours," Mr Aziz said.
Electricity supply problems at a national level have at least provided a handful of enterprising businessmen with a chance to earn a living. Households typically pay between US$50 (Dh183) and $75 a month to get on the neighbourhood grid, money paid to the owner of the generator.
The generator owners are not always popular, often accused of charging too much and exploiting people's need for power. Such claims were rejected by Omar Rafed Maamuri, who runs a diesel plant in Baghdad's al Synaa St.
"There are positives from a business point of view although most of the money goes to the companies manufacturing the generators" he said.
"Some people are making millions of dollars out of this, but I'm not. The generators are expensive to buy, and expensive to run and repair. It costs of a lot of money.
"I work hard to provide a fair service at a reasonable cost. I consider it a kind of humanitarian service, more than a business. People need the power and I can help them get it."
nlatif@thenational.ae
Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
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Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Mountain%20Boy
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A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
