Gaza Strip: Power cuts continue to hit all sectors and life in the Gaza Strip as several factories have been forced to shut down following weeks of blackouts and fuel shortages, worsening the economy in the impoverished Strip.
Mohammad Awad, an owner of a plastic bag factory in the east, said: "Our production has been cut by 50 per cent because there is no electricity". He added, "I can't use an generator any more since the price of fuel is increasing and I can't afford this additional cost."
"I work for only six hours a day whenever the electricity is available. Often, my two sons and I have to wake up at midnight and then start working in order to benefit from the electricity," he added.
Hundreds of factories similar to this one might be forced to shut down in weeks or even days due to lack of fuel. This will have a terrible effect on the local industry.
According to the ministry of economy, more than 75 per cent of the industries and factories in Gaza are considered medium or small factories with small capital and can't handle huge financial costs.
Frustration
Head of the Federation of Palestinian Industries and Businessmen Ali Al Hayek said that dozens of factories, especially those which work in the fields of construction and food, will be shutting down because of the insufficient fuel supplies used to generate the power needed to operate their industrial machinery.
According to the Federation, this crisis has tragically affected nearly 3,900 industrial establishments and factories in the seaside territory.
The power and fuel crisis has caused frustration among people who have called on all parties to immediately intervene and solve this problem.
"I ask the government in Gaza to provide the fuel shipments used by factories in the production of local products, especially the diesel fuel needed to operate the machinery," he said.
It is known that the economy of Gaza depends on these factories and that the local businesses keeps the national economy afloat providing employment. Now, it has been destroyed by repeated disasters that have affected the private sector organisations that are now damaged by the poor transport infrastructure, repeated electricity blackouts and sanitation problems.
Cost of goods
Al Hassan Baker, an economic analyst, said: "I believe that many of the private sector factories are working to provide products and goods to the Gazan markets but aren't really making any profits. In fact, some of them are losing because of this policy."
He added: "The shortage of fuel and electricity doesn't affect just the factories but also the other jobs that deal with these factories such as transportation, packing, etc. This will end up by adding more costs on the final consumer and increasing the cost of goods."
For the past three months, Gaza's only power plant has shut down on several occasions and the 1.7 million residents of the coastal strip have faced up to 18-hour blackouts each day. After the fuel deliveries coming from Egypt through tunnels came to a complete stop, Gazans have been left with no other means but electrical generators, which have further complicated the struggle for fuel.
