Normal Electricity Supply In Iraq Years Away

(RFE/RL) 20 February 2006 - A U.S. official said today Iraqis will have to wait up to seven more years for a reliable electricity supply that runs 24 hours a day across the country.

Colonel David Bender, a program officer with the U.S. Project Contracting Office, Electricity Sector, said that still there are "a number of years ahead" until electricity supply becomes normal.

The United States has spent some $1.4 billion on power supply, with 117 projects completed and another 230 in progress, but electricity is still limited to three hours on and three hours off in many places.

The production is barely back to prewar levels after dropping by half in the days following the invasion.

(Reuters)