Police were called in to offices of the Saudi Electricity Company here Sunday to break up protesters who had gathered for the second consecutive day to voice their dismay at power cuts affecting the region of Qassim. A company statement said Sunday that the cuts were due to a “collapse” in the network resulting from overloads, and protesters said their power supply had been out of action for two days running, noting that just when they had been promised a solution to the problem they “were surprised to be cut off again right at the beginning of Ramadan.” “Staff from the company refused to respond to any of our questions and then went and called the police who came and calmed people down and told them to leave the offices,” a protester said. Mohammed Al-Ulyan was similarly dismayed at the lack of information being afforded to the public. “I wish they'd just answer our questions,” Al-Ulyan said. Mansour Al-Shureid went to the offices to explain his situation. “My mother suffers from breathing difficulties and the heat due to the power cut forced us to take her to hospital,” Al-Shureid said. “When I went to speak to the electricity company I found the AC there was working while electricity in the whole of the Al-Fayeziya District had been cut off.” Others suggested that the power cuts were not entirely necessary and were being conducted in a discriminatory fashion. “Some parts of Buraidah have not had their electricity cut off,” said Mohammed Al-Suneidi, “because lots of the company's staff live there.”
