• by Vesna Peric Zimonjic (belgrade)
• Wednesday, December 14, 1994
• Inter Press Service

BELGRADE, Dic 14 (IPS) - The civil wars in the former Yugoslavia and the ensuing international economic sanctions have wreaked havoc in Serbia proper which now has to face up the added burden of up to six hours a day of power cuts.

The problems in electricity production are caused by a serious lack of spare parts, lower levels in the rivers that feed the hydro-electric power plants and excessive demand.

Winter brings a huge surge in demand for power which cannot be met by the national electricity company the 'Elektroprivreda Srbije' (EPS) which has been forced to introduce power cuts all over the Serbian republic ranging from three to six hours a day.

As a result life in Serbia proper has been turned upside down for many people who in some cases have to endure many hours of darkness in the midst of winter.

With darkness drawing in at about 4pm larger cities like the capital Belgrade, or Novi Sad, Kragujevac or Nis, look like 'ghost towns' at the times of the power cuts. The cuts were introduced two weeks ago.

The cities and their surroundings are rotated for the purposes of power cuts and are divided into sections. The schedules of the power cuts are published daily by EPS or relevant announcements are broadcast on television and radio stations.

However, much confusion still reigns because many people are unable to understand which group their home or office belongs to.

"I am lucky that my mother lives at the other end of the town," Marija, a Belgrade mother of two small children says. "So every day we go there when there is no electricity here. The same applies to her -- she comes over here when it's her section that has the power turned off," she explains.

According to Dr Dejan Konstantinovic, director of the 'Novi Beograd Health Centre' -- one of the biggest in the capital -- a simple power cut of only several hours caused total chaos in the centre's work.

'One day after the power was cut we had 470 biochemical analyses at the laboratory and that had to be done again. We had to call again on 470 patients. The electro cardiogramme was out too, as well as sensitive ophthalmologist devices.

"In addition the phones went dead as our switchboard is working on electricity too," he explained.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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