Power blackouts hit Khor Fakkan

Khor Fakhan residents say they are already dealing with unexplained power outages.

SHARJAH // The annual summer power cuts in Khor Fakkan have begun, with several blackouts hitting the city on Sunday, say angry residents.

Most of Khor Fakkan city lost power from 4pm to 7pm, and again from just after 7pm to 11pm, said Mohammed Al Hammadi, an Emirati resident.

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"This was not the first time power was on and off," he said. "We had about two more power cuts last week."

Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) was not available for comment. A spokesman had said earlier this year there would be no power cuts this summer as the previous years' problems had been rectified. So far this year, Sharjah city centre had not seen any power failures.

Ali Al Kaabim, another Emirati resident of Khor Fakkan, said temperatures were above 40°C on Sunday evening, making the cuts unbearable.

"I tried to call Sewa operations centre but there was no response," he said. "I guess they were having more calls at the time than they could answer, but we still wait for an explanation."

Another resident, Hussam Ahmed, said few people outside Khor Fakkan seemed to care when the city lost power.

"If there were power cuts [in [Sharjah city], the world would turn upside down. But no one is caring for us," he said. "Yesterday I had to drive and take my family to relatives in Sharjah city, and returned home only late in the night after power had returned."

Usman Zahedi, a Pakistani resident, said he wanted to see the Sharjah government take control of the situation in the same way it had during the petrol shortage.

"During the petrol crisis, I heard all government departments speaking with one defiant voice," he said. "We want them to do the same to their own Sewa when power goes off in Khor Fakkan."

The young and elderly old are among the most affected when power goes off in the hot summer, said Abdul Jalil, another resident.

"I had to stay at the Khor Fakkan beach with several other families, all refugees of the humidity from their powerless homes," he said. "At the beach you could see the very old and very young all together. Ask if authorities could live their lives without power in a house."