New electricity charges upset residents

Dubai: The Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) has raised power charges for Sharjah residents by 50 per cent. Gulf News readers are not too happy with the increase.

Although Sisira Walaliyadde, a Sri Lankan civil engineer, understands that Sewa is increasing the tariffs to cover the cost of generating electricity, he believes that residents should not have to pay the extra amount for it.

He said: "I feel that if Sewa planned this better, it would have not come to this price increase."

Walaliyadde, a Sharjah resident, feels that Sewa should know the amount of electricity that is needed, as it is a booming emirate, and should have known and planned for the future so that residents do not have to pay this much to cover the charges.

Walaliyadde pays Dh2,000 per month during the summer for his electricity bill and would now have to decrease his overall spending to cover the new power tariff.

Timing is a big problem in this case, as Bassam Nader, a Lebanese national residing in Sharjah, said.

He said: "If they increased it a few months ago it would have been more acceptable, as now many people are financially struggling."

However, Nader, a health counsellor, felt this was bound to happen as Sharjah was growing exponentially and needs electricity to power it.

Nadia Al Rayayesa, an Emirati national residing in Sharjah, also finds the new charges high, as not many people can afford to pay this amount.

Nadia, a retail bank executive, she said: "UAE residents have other things to worry about and this is might be too much for them to handle."

According to her, an awareness campaign should be implemented first to educate people on how to save electricity.

She said: "If... power shortage is the problem, I think Sewa should try teaching people how to reduce electricity wastage before increasing the prices.

Not only does M. Abdul Razzaq, an Indian national residing in Sharjah, think that the increase is too high but it has been done "too late".

He said: "If this is to help ensure power stability, then it should have been done before Ramadan."

Razzaq, a design engineer, said that many Sharjah residents suffered because of the power cuts and that could have been avoided if Sewa had started this initiative earlier.

A reasonable increase of 15 per cent would have been more acceptable, Razzaq said.