Power Outage Plunges Moroccan Villages into Darkness During Ramadan

Abdounen, Atmimen and Athmanen, three douars in the commune of Bni Leit, in the province of Tétouan, have been plunged into darkness since Wednesday. The cause of this power outage is the damage to the electrical transformer that supplies the population with electricity, reveal inhabitants of the three douars to the newspaper Al3omk, adding that they have informed the regional services of the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) of the problem, and that technicians from the Office have visited the area, but they "have refrained" from repairing the breakdown. ONEE requires the settlement of all unpaid bills first. This has caused incomprehension among the population.

Residents oppose this requirement. According to them, cutting off electricity to everyone because of the non-payment of bills by a few families is like a "collective punishment", add the same sources. Furthermore, they say that the "refusal" of ONEE services to repair the breakdown has aggravated their suffering during the month of Ramadan. The mosques operate without loudspeakers during the Tarawih prayers, due to the power outage, they add.