venezuela to ration electricity in power crisis
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Venezuela to ration electricity in power crisis

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Venezuela to ration electricity in power crisis

People stand outside a subway station during a general blackout in Caracas
Caracas - AFP

Recession-wracked Venezuela is to ration electricity in 10 of its most populous and industrialized states, including metropolitan Caracas, the socialist government said.

It is the latest drastic measure to alleviate a severe electricity crisis which President Nicolas Maduro and his government blame on the El Nino weather phenomenon that causes drought.

Critics say it's the result of years of economic mismanagement.

Luis Motta Dominguez, minister for electric power, made the announcement during a televised broadcast and said further details would be released in the coming days.

Maduro is under growing pressure from the center-right opposition, which vowed to oust him when it took control of the legislature in January after winning elections, blaming him for the crippling economic crisis.

Venezuela's economy has plunged along with the price of the oil on which it relies for foreign revenues. Shortages of medicines and goods such as toilet paper and cooking oil are widespread.

Maduro blames the collapse on an "economic war" by capitalists.

Last week, his government said it was shifting its time zone forward by 30 minutes to save power.

Other measures include giving government workers an extra day off each week for the next two months, and Maduro has urged Venezuelan women to stop using their hairdryers.

"The greatest power consumption is residential," Motta said, speaking at the Guri hydroelectric plant.
The water level in the dam feeding the facility in Venezuela's southeast, which supplies 70 percent of the country's grid, "continues to decline steadily and is approaching the minimum operating height," he added, saying it left authorities no option but to ration.

Maduro said Wednesday that residential energy-saving targets had not been met, necessitating the rationing that "will save the Guri" from collapse.

Water levels in the country's 18 hydroelectric dams have dropped to dangerously low levels, and citizens regularly suffer blackouts and water rationing.

Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves, but the government has resisted using crude to generate electricity, calling it inefficient.

- Other measures -

Maduro's other measures to cut electricity use include reducing the workday to six hours for ministries and state companies and ordering them to lower their electricity consumption by 20 percent.

He has also ordered shops and hotels to ration electricity, obliging them to generate their own power for several hours a day.

Shopping centers have cut back their hours since that plan was introduced.

Analysts, however, warn that the measures being introduced will further damage the productivity of the country, which is in serious economic straits. Its inflation rate of 180 percent for 2015 is the highest in the world, and basic goods are scarce.

Some workers complain that although they might be getting more time off, they don't have any money to enjoy it. So they end up doing more household chores or lining up at the supermarket for rare subsidized food items.

Maduro reached the halfway point of his mandate this week, leaving him prey to legal measures to drive him from office.

He has vowed to hold on to power and press on with the socialist "revolution" launched by his late predecessor Hugo Chavez.

 

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

venezuela to ration electricity in power crisis venezuela to ration electricity in power crisis

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

venezuela to ration electricity in power crisis venezuela to ration electricity in power crisis

 



GMT 06:41 2017 Tuesday ,12 December

'The Shape of Water' leads Golden Globes nominations

GMT 18:57 2016 Friday ,04 November

Historic climate pact enters into force

GMT 15:49 2017 Monday ,27 March

Moroccan Economy to Improve in 2017

GMT 17:30 2017 Saturday ,18 March

Erdogan hits out at Dutch over Srebrenica massacre

GMT 16:40 2012 Wednesday ,16 May

Egyptian actors morph into characters

GMT 23:39 2017 Tuesday ,21 November

Mohamed bin Zayed receives artists participating

GMT 15:28 2017 Monday ,10 April

Bangladesh militants to be hanged soon

GMT 20:40 2017 Tuesday ,11 April

Gunmen storm house of Libyan CB governor

GMT 12:38 2017 Wednesday ,15 November

Bill Gates giving $50 million for Alzheimer's research
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday