Residents of 10 Jeddah districts, already reeling under the impact of a severe water crisis, had to sweat it out most of Monday as a result of power failure. The districts which went through this nightmarish experience were Al-Safa, Al-Samer, Al-Quarnia, Al-Rabae, Al-Rawabi, Al-Ajwa, Al-Bawadi, Al-Massadyia, Al-Nozha and Al-Jamia. Repeated power cuts occurred in these districts from 10 A.M. till 3 P.M. in the afternoon. The power failures were caused by high temperature which led to the failure of six main power generating stations, authorities said. A source at the Electricity Company in Jeddah said high temperature resulted in repeated power fluctuations at the loading centers which dropped to more than 60 percent. The power generating stations could not withstand these fluctuations, he told Al-Madina newspaper. He said maintenance teams have been working round-the-clock to overcome the problem. Several people expressed their apprehension that this power breakdown is a precursor of last year's events when severe power crisis hit the city. However electricity officials are optimistic that last year's crisis is now thing of the past as the department was all geared up to face any unforeseen situation. On the other hand, water crisis in Jeddah has reached its peak. Large crowds of citizens and residents have been seen lining up at water station. Saad Abdullah Al-Otaibi, a resident of Al-Safa District said: “It is illogical that people leave their businesses and queue up under the scorching heat to fight for a drop of water. This is happening despite the repeated assurances from officials that water shortage in Jeddah will end soon.” Engineer Abdul Rahman Al-Mohammedi, Director of Water Department, said the crisis will be over in a few days. He said diggings and excavations at Al-Tayara Square has damaged the main water network and other pipelines near the Geology Commission. __
