IEEE Spectrum February, 2010 - 46

Forum

Continued from page 7

interview with a cognizant
official, the ministry would
respond only to a series of
written questions. I quoted at
length from the spokesman's
brief written answers, which
were received weeks after my
initial deadline. The answers,
despite my requests, did not
elaborate on specific issues. I
also contacted Siemens, which
designed the plant, hoping
to get some technical details
directly from the company.
Although Siemens was initially responsive, after I mentioned that I wanted to write
about the plant in Gaza, the
spokesperson did not respond
to subsequent e-mails.

e at the Gaza Electricity
Distribution Co. are
not satisfied with the article. I
was in the meeting between
the writer and Suheil Skeik,

GEDCo's general manager.
The writer did not mention
that GEDCo tries to do its job
as well as it can (distribute
electricity, maintain the lowand medium-voltage networks,
and collect the electricity bills,
our duty by law). We don't disconnect needy people.
Now we are faced with a
25 percent electricity deficit;
in the peak of last summer it
was 30 percent and may even
pass 30 percent this winter.
By law, we must collect
100 percent of the bill despite
the fact that more than
80 percent of the Palestinian
people in the Gaza Strip live
under the poverty line. We
stretch our salaries and
operational expenses and
pay the Palestinian Authority
for the purchased electricity.
We must manage this with
only 700 employees. At
the GEDCo warehouse,
240 items are currently in
short supply, and 73 of them
are at zero quantity.

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P
E

Skeik did not mention
continue building our country
radical solutions. He said
and serving the people.
that the Gaza Strip has been
Usama Dabbour
in a state of electricity deficit
External Unit, GEDCo
Gaza
since the 2006 bombing of the
power plant transmission system, that we need a strategic
o understand the impovsolution, and that it would
erished infrastructure
be nice to have three reliable
described in the article, a sumsources of energy (from Israel, mary of events is required.
from our own power plant at
To start, from Israel's withfull 140-megawatt capacity,
drawal in 2005, infrastrucand from Egypt through
ture was never a priority for
220-kilovolt linking, which
the Palestinian Authority,
would give the Gaza Strip
Hamas, nor for the pub300 MW and end the deficit).
lic at large. American Jews
Skeik said that we
face some difficulties
"Whiletheauthorsympathetically
due to Israel's policy
portraysvaliant,resourceful
on material needed
gazanpalestiniansovercoming
for maintenance and
thehardshipsofanimpoverished
development projects.
infrastructure,keepinmindthat
It is very hard to
they'resufferingthemiseryoftheir
build in this situation,
ownmaking" -Robert M. Braun
and it is hard to keep
rebuilding when
what takes years to rebuild
had provided US $14 million
is destroyed in a moment.
worth of new greenhouses
However, we will keep
to supplement the ones that
our hopes up, and we will
already supplied 20 percent

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum February, 2010