Hamas foiling Gaza power crisis solution:
Palestinian PM
Sunday March 25, 2012 11:10:15 PM,
IANS
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Ramallah: Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
Sunday accused Hamas of foiling an attempt to resume fuel supplies
to the Gaza Strip.
Fayyad said in a statement that he delegated officials from the
West Bank-based energy authority to Egypt to look for a lasting
solution to the Gaza power crisis, but Hamas, while controls Gaza,
did not send its own people, reported Xinhua.
Fayyad said he asked his delegation to wait for another day in
Cairo, but officials from Gaza's energy authority, run by Hamas,
did not come as well.
Ghassan Al-Khatib, spokesperson for Fayyad's government, said that
Egypt has invited representatives of the Palestinian authorities
in both the West Bank and Gaza to find a solution to the
disruption of fuel supplies, which caused Gaza's only power plant
to shut down.
Hamas used to bring in fuel from Egypt, where smugglers buy it as
a subsidized item and sell it to Hamas, which taxes it. The
industrial diesel for the power station and gasoline for cars used
to come through a network of underground smuggling tunnels between
Gaza and Egypt.
Taher Al-Nounou, spokesperson for Hamas, said that the Hamas
authority is not ready to sit with Fayyad's envoys "who want us to
go back to buy Israeli diesel with tripled prices."
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Friday sent 450,000
litres of diesel to the power station through Israel's Kerem
Shalom crossing. Hamas said the station would stop Sunday because
that shipment of diesel would run out in the evening.
Fayyad said earlier that fuel can continue to be delivered to Gaza
if the Hamas authority transfer its costs to the PNA, which buys
it from Israel.
For Hamas, getting fuel from Egypt provides it with good tax
revenues.
Gaza needs more than 350 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Israel and
Egypt supply it directly with 140 MW, while the power plant
produces 80 MW when working at full capacity. With the power plant
not working, the blackout period extends from at least eight to 16
hours per day.
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