In Iraq, the electricity is a mess

Can you imagine yourself living without electricity? It might be a good idea for an interesting movie or a reality show. However, what’s most interesting is the real movie that we live here in Iraq, where electricity is available to us 2-4 hours a day. It is not an exaggeration, it is the truth. Government institutes, private businesses and the general population find it necessary to use generators to achieve our daily activities although many people cannot use their small generator for a long period; they are built for short-term use.

The electricity's generator is located inside this luxurious room! ,

one wire for one house, it is new technology.

The problem started to escalate after the fall of Saddam’s regime in 2003. After the fall, the open market policy that had been allowed in Iraq took a dive and thus led to the import of huge quantities of domestic utilities as well as a variety of equipment that is needed by small businesses. All of that caused a raise of the power load on the national power network. In return, the local power stations were over loaded and became unable to provide the required electricity.

The second reason involves the now notorious terrorists. They found that the power towers were an easy target to attack. They usually select the areas that is located out of control or guarding, especially at the borders of provinces, it is enough to plant a little of explosions under one of the power transportation towers, it will spontaneously be collapsed because of its high height and heavy weight. With this easy target, they attempted to suppress the democratic change process.

In order for you to fully grasp the life that we live, you need to turn off your lights and in the hottest part of the day leave the air conditioner off. There is no need for you to try to use the microwave, toaster or coffee pot because they don’t work here with out the electricity.

If you plan visiting Iraq, don’t make plans the luxury of electricity, it can’t be found here.

Bombed apartment

Three months after our company was raided by terrorists in Baghdad, we decided to start again, but this time by working as separate teams in private places.

We found a commercial building that consisted of two apartments to rent. We selected one that was located away from the main street in order to avoid the explosions that often happened by suicide cars. Our team of four engineers decided not to hang the company banner for display, and kept this location private for our own safety. We met other teams we worked with in a public places to keep our secret.

The other apartment was rented by someone else a week after we moved in. The tenant of that apartment hadn't seen just one time while he was bringing some materials to decorate his apartment. The stores owners in the ground floor saw him using a new model of pick up car to bring the bags of materials. Then the apartment still closed and nobody came back to start up the work.

Days Later, In 27th July 2006, I was doing some works before going to the office when I received a call from my sister, who was working in the same district, telling me not to come to that area, she had been hearing explosions constantly for about an hour. I tried calling my colleagues in order to avoid going to that area but all of them were unavailable.

The roads into the area had been closed, so I walked for two hours to reach the office, which was located in AL-Karada territory in the middle of Baghdad. There had been sporadic explosions there all morning. When I reached the office, the building had been more than half destroyed. I didn't believe my eyes; the wreck and the pieces of glass were scattered everywhere. Just one of my colleagues was there during the moment of the explosion; he looked dusty and terrified but didn't hurt. Fortunately, nobody was killed in this explosion because the apartments around the targeted one were empty. There was no reason for that to happen in such as that area, there are no police, military and government units nearby. As well all the stores in the ground floor were for selling electrical domestic devices, and most of the apartments in the other floors were using as stores.

We later found out that the person who rented the apartment just to fill it with explosives. All of the decorating that we thought he was doing, was not decorating at all, he had actually been planting the explosives. Our office was not the only building to be targeted with the explosives; three other buildings in the same territory had been targeted by the same way. Four buildings had been destroyed and there had been approximately five explosions from car bombs, along with many mortars missiles, all in the time period of about an hour.

The terrorist group who claimed responsibility for the bombings stated that their purpose was to punish the population of the area (mainly Shiia) for their cooperation with the US forces and the new government.

Two days after, we started again cleaning and reconstructing our office in the same destroyed building, it became more secure as long as there was no place to rent. The funny matter was that; while we didn't hurt by that huge explosion, I had injured by broken glass while we were cleaning our office, I moved to hospital and got three sticks in my arm, it left a sign on my arm to make me remember that accident for ever.