Enab Baladi – Ras al-Ain
Since mid-October, the city of Ras al-Ain in northwestern al-Hasakah has been suffering from repeated power cuts, reaching up to 5 hours a day, negatively impacting the lives of residents.
Most of the city’s inhabitants rely on electricity coming from Turkey through AK Energy company, which is the main source of power in the region. However, residents have considered its dealings to be characterized by a “lack of response and transparency.”
This situation adds to long-standing complaints that have gone unanswered and remained trapped in unfulfilled promises, including the lack of electricity in rural Ras al-Ain for nearly four years, amid promises of expansion, which contradicts the contract signed between the company and the local council.
Frequent cuts and poor service
As temperatures begin to drop, electricity use increases, especially for heating, but the power outages without clear reasons have disrupted the residents’ plans, preventing them from operating heaters or water heating appliances, according to fifty-year-old Hassan Mohammed from Ras al-Ain.
The man told Enab Baladi that his home relies on electricity for heating, and the long outages forced him to purchase diesel, which is not a solution because it is financially burdensome, and he is still paying money for his electricity subscription.
The man finds himself forced to look for alternatives such as diesel or firewood, expressing his fear of the continuation of these outages, which would mean a “harsh winter” and diseases that threaten his family’s health and comfort.
Mrs. Rabaa al-Karim, a resident of Ras al-Ain, complained about the long hours of electricity cuts and her inability to complete some of her household duties, like cooking or washing clothes.
She told Enab Baladi that she has to use candles and lanterns as alternatives at night, acknowledging that these solutions are not sustainable.
As for Ahmad al-Ibrahim, who works at the Ras al-Ain municipality, he stated that the repeated power cuts have become a source of damage to the residents, with no response despite numerous complaints.
He mentioned to Enab Baladi that the outages have led to food spoilage in the fridge and the loss of medications, stating that the company lacks transparency, as there are no clarifications regarding the reasons and maintenance schedules.
According to residents interviewed by Enab Baladi, their repeated requests to the electricity company for solutions have not received any positive response; they were merely met with unfulfilled promises and there are no guarantees or mechanisms to ensure their rights from the company.
Residents are forced to recharge their electricity subscription cards monthly with amounts ranging from 700 to 1,000 Turkish lira in Ras al-Ain, while local council employees or security and military personnel affiliated with the opposition’s Syrian National Coalition receive salaries ranging between 2,000 and 3,000 Turkish lira monthly.
The price of a liter of diesel is 35 Turkish lira, and the price of a candle is 18.5 Turkish lira.
Local council promises
In addition to the cuts, the electricity supply dropped from 35 to 27 kilowatts for every 100 Turkish lira about a month and a half ago, amidst demands from residents to increase the supply, yet the company has not responded by improving services or ensuring stability.
The company signed its first contracts with the local council in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad in March 2021, which included providing electrical supply to the city and its countryside, according to a statement from the previous head of the local council in Ras al-Ain, Mar’i al-Youssef. This makes the local council responsible for monitoring the contract and obliging the company to adhere to its terms.
A spokesperson for the local council, Ziad Maliki, told Enab Baladi that the council is continuously communicating with the electricity company to resolve the issue of repeated outages, especially in the last 15 days, promising to continue urging the company to commit to providing electricity around the clock without interruption, to ensure the stability of the service provided to residents.
He added that the council emphasized to the company the need to adhere to the signed contracts, especially concerning not raising electricity prices without prior notice to the council, to protect citizens’ rights. He mentioned that the council received a promise from the company to provide uninterrupted electricity in the coming days.
AK Energy: Maintenance work
AK Energy company was established in Kilis, Turkey, and is owned by Syrian Ibrahim Khalil and three Turkish individuals. The company began its operations in the rural areas of Aleppo on June 1, 2017, and obtained license number “9123455” from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Gaziantep, Turkey.
The company’s contract with the local council in Ras al-Ain in 2021 stipulated supplying the city and countryside with electricity within only one year. However, the company has failed to fulfill this agreement, as delivering electricity fully to Ras al-Ain took more than two years.
One of the main provisions of the contract was to maintain the electricity infrastructure in the city and countryside; however, the electrical infrastructure was not replaced, and connections were made randomly, leading to repeated outages due to these circumstances.
A responsible source in the company (who requested anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the press) explained to Enab Baladi that the outages that Ras al-Ain has witnessed over the past 15 days were due to major maintenance work in both Turkey and Syria. The source stated that the company began repair operations more than a month ago in preparation for the winter, aiming to ensure a continuous electricity supply without interruption.
He added that the company has been working during this period on maintaining and updating about 60% of the networks to ensure better efficiency.
He mentioned that maintenance work in Ras al-Ain is still ongoing, and it is expected to be completed in the coming days, which will lead to stability in the electricity supply and improve its quality.
The electricity issues plague the lives of the residents of Ras al-Ain, whose population is about 115,000, as complaints are repeatedly raised about the lack of electricity in most rural areas, the fluctuating power supply that leads to damage to electrical appliances, or the frequent rise in their prices.