YEMEN PLANS PREPAID SYSTEM TO FACE ELECTRICAL SECTOR PROBLEMS

SANA'A, Feb. 21 (Saba) - The Ministry of Electricity and Energy intends to start installing prepaid electric counters in an effort to reduce the number of collectors, operation costs, overdue payments and non-technical losses at a time when it is seeking to improve its operation.

An official at the ministry who asked not to be named said the ministry and the Public Electrical Corporation will implement an experimental project for 15000 meters in Secretariat Capital this year.

Once it proves successful, they will apply the solution to various provinces as from 2011, the official said.

The ministry seeks to reduce technical electric losses to 24 per cent by 2011 to improve revenues through several measures that require sufficient and necessary funds.

The measures come under a study by consultative companies on the development of the ministry and providing requirements for projects to reduce losses.

The first phase of this will start in Secretariat Capital and other main cities such as Aden, Taiz, Hodeidah and Hadramout as well as installing meters for subscribers who randomly connected electricity to their facilities.

A special reference has been prepared for power efficiency project that ensures supplying stations with spare parts, implementing permanent and periodical maintenance programs, implementing programs and plans to reduce losses, setting out conditions for references for preparing a special study for tariffs, boosting revenue collection levels and collecting subscriber debts.

Commercially, the official said that the ministry had provided requirements for all areas including meters and granting authorizations for the areas which had more commercial achievements. About 30000 copies of the services guide were distributed as well, the official added.

Last year, the number of subscribers reached 1.6 million people by a 7 per cent annual rate.

On Saturday, the ministry said that the bill of purchasing power from the private sector increased through January-November 2009 by 7.5 per cent to YR 21.9 billion, up from YR 20.3 billion in 2008.

The sum included YR 14.3 billion in costs of buying power and the costs of fuel at YR 7.6 billion.

Director General of the Power Purchase Department at the Ministry of Energy Arif Taha said that the revenues from the bought power reached YR 18.3 billion with a deficit of YR 3.5 billion.

FR