Baghdad / NINA / – Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi confirmed that there are illusory forces that are working to ensure that Iraq does not reach self-sufficiency in energy and gas, and are trying to impede these efforts by every means.

Al-Kadhimi said during his visit to the Ministry of Electricity, today, Saturday, and his meeting with the advanced cadre of the ministry: The terrorists and their supporters continue their attempt to impede life in Iraq, after they were unable to confront our heroic armed forces, and here they are continuously targeting electrical power stations and towers.

He added: Our work on the energy sector and its development will not stop, and we are working on a strategic plan that we establish according to realistic studies to maintain electricity as a continuous service for citizens.

Al-Kadhimi continued: Our solutions in the electric power sector are based on diversifying energy sources and achieving sufficiency in gaseous or other fuels to operate power plants.

He pointed out that: Since the beginning of our assumption of our duties, we have said that real and tangible actions are what the citizen will see and feel, who has had enough of words and speech for years.

He stressed that “the continuous targeting of the electricity sector is trying to prevent the stability of the electrical grid, especially after we opened two modern and important stations in Dhi Qar and Salah al-Din.”

He pointed out that “there are no quick solutions to the electricity problem, but we develop solutions and procedures with the fastest possible performance, and mobilize all the energies of the production and distribution sectors in order to develop solutions, and for the citizen to see positive results.”

He added: Iraq has previously spent nearly $80 billion on the electricity sector since 2003, but corruption was a strong obstacle to providing energy to people in a stable manner, which is unreasonable spending without reaching a solution to the problem from its roots.

He pointed out that “those who try to hold the current government responsible for the ruin should review themselves and their memory. Destruction and corruption were intertwined in all sectors, and the energy sector was the most prominent among them.” He added, “We understand the citizens’ anger, and we are angry at their anger, as electricity today is facing the consequences of accumulated poor planning, just as it faces terrorism and its evils at the same time.”

He stressed, “We directed the ministries of oil and finance to provide absolute support to the Ministry of Electricity for the sustainability of providing energy to the Iraqi people, noting that the crisis cell will follow up and act as quickly as possible in response to any violations targeting electric power transmission towers.”

He also stressed that “there is no point in temporary prosthetic solutions that we pay for twice, and the most important thing is the work of this government to develop radical, scientific and correct solutions to the problems of the energy sector in Iraq, with short-term and medium-term plans, in addition to long-term plans.”

He said: Whoever abuses the energy sector through corruption, negligence, or political bargaining over the years, his action is no different from what terrorism does today by targeting energy transmission lines, stressing that investigations are continuing to pursue small and big spoilers in the electricity sector. These represented a sinful hand that helped terrorism and served its goals.

He added: The electricity sector should not become a subject for political and electoral conflicts, as the citizen has suffered enough from these conflicts and we are working with all efforts to provide electric power to citizens, stressing that investigations are continuing into areas of corruption within the work of the Ministry of Electricity, and we have already arrested a number of those against whom judicial warrants have been issued.

He continued: The first constant is that we go beyond red tape and reduce bureaucracy, because it is one of the causes of the deterioration of the energy sector, and its harm is no different from corruption. / End

Source: National Iraqi News Agency