The Palestinian Energy Authority (PEA) in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday that the abolition of all the taxes levied on the fuel provided for the power station and not only the blue tax is the quickest way to alleviate the electricity crisis. The PEA affirmed that it had exerted many efforts to mitigate the crisis.
Fathi al-Sheikh Khalil vice president of the PEA in Gaza said in a press conference on Tuesday that the main reasons of the crisis is the repeated disruption of the Egyptian feeding lines which provide 22 MWs representing 11% of the electricity available in the Strip.
Sheikh Khalil stated that the cost of operating two generators at the beginning of 2016 amounted to 22 million shekels while the cost of 3 generators reached 30 million shekels. In this January 2017 he added the cost reached 32 million shekels to operate two generators and 45 million shekels to operate three which means that there is an increase by 8-13 million shekels.
He emphasized that massive loads were added to the network including housing projects hospitals pump stations for the municipalities Hamad residential city and lighting Salah al-Din street. These loads are estimated at 20-30 MWs.
He added that the PEA and the Electricity Distribution Company have made many efforts to increase the amount of electricity provided through improving the rate of tax collecting which reached 65%. He confirmed that the money collected can run the whole station in case the taxes levied on the fuel were cancelled. “We now pay 24 million shekels per month to buy fuel to run two generators with taxes exceeding 50%” he explained.
He noted that in 2016 they paid 260 million shekels for fuel 135 million of which were for taxes even after the blue tax discounts.
Sheik Khalil revealed that the Palestinian government’s claims that it provides the electricity sector in Gaza with one billion shekels a year involve big exaggerations adding that the PEA is ready to assign the electricity file to anyone who is committed to solving the problem based on a clear vision.
He held Rami Hamdallah’s government responsible for the disruption of Line 161 project after the Israeli approval to provide it with electricity and the PEA’s willingness to pay its monthly cost.
