Summer heat, power crisis turn Iraqis’ lives into hell in Ramadan

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: As Ramadan began, Iraqis agreed that the high temperature and non-stop power cutoff, let alone security problem and crazy price hikes, are the most serious problems facing them during the holy Muslim fasting month. “Frankly, I don’t have a clue as to how we should be fasting during this month under this torrid hot weather and constant cutoffs of electricity supply. May God help us,” Qassem Mohammed, an employee who lives in al-Bayaa neighborhood, central Baghdad, told Iraqi News. He said even the owners of generators who provide electricity in return for a sum of money that is not little have become dishonest. “They always have the ready-made pretext of lack of oil derivatives and gas oil”. He called on the government to activate its control agencies and rein in the “skyrocketing market prices and greedy merchants”. “The government had announced that it would add more items to the ration quota but so far it has reneged on its promises,” said Mohammed. Umm Ahmed, a retired woman, said the retired persons are a category of “have-nots” compared to civil servants who receive a monthly salary. She noted that any price hike could render the retired persons totally incapable of making both ends meet during the month of Ramadan. “This year’s Ramadan might be different from last year’s, and perhaps the next year’s could be worse if conditions remained unchanged. The water scarcity Iraq is suffering has entailed an increase in the prices of fruits and vegetables. The price of one kilogram of tomatoes, for instance, jumped from 500 to 1250 Iraqi dinars,” Umm Ahmed complained. “Unfortunately, this is the new Iraq: Some have built opulent palaces and multinational companies in Europe with the nation’s money while others are starving in a country that swims over crude oil as some say,” she grumbled. A university student, Amir Adel, said that the increasing prices of foodstuffs and deteriorating security conditions in Iraq would leave a significant change on the nature of Iraqi dining tables during Ramadan. “Even owners of trucks that carry foodstuffs to neighborhoods and alleys only venture out at double and triple the prices out of security concerns,” he said. Adel appealed to the Iraqi government and its security institutions to impose security plans that should protect the markets and gatherings during the month of Ramadan. Sunni and Shiite clerics in Iraq have agreed that Saturday (Aug. 22) is the first day of the fasting month on the Muslim Hegira calendar. They rarely agree on a same day for the beginning of Ramadan. Umm Rasoul, a housewife, said the astronomical prices of items are adding more suffering to Iraq’s low-income already-downtrodden families. “The majority of the families would rather stay home out of concerns that acts of violence could erupt any time. The souks (outdoor markets) are no longer the same,” she said. Several bombing attacks in Baghdad last week have left hundreds killed or wounded, rendering the local residents to have fears about security after improvements in the capital during the past months. “The status of the Iraqi citizen is magnificently bad. We wish the government would work, even partially, on removing the obstacles facing the people,” added Umm Rasoul. AmR (I)/SR 3