The nation-wide power outage on Friday ended in a few hours,
and business was back as usual. That’s good news.
However, what happened was a very serious occurrence that
should not pass without enough scrutiny of our energy situation, and how we can
prevent a reoccurrence of an incident that saw the entire country at a
standstill.
اضافة اعلان
Facing an unprecedented development of this scale, amid
regional turbulence and at a time of a pandemic and economic crisis, among
other formidable challenges, reveals many concerns we have to bear in mind.
First of all, the government was relatively slow in coming
up with an explanation. The golden PR rule in situations like these is that if
you cannot communicate a solid message to the masses, especially regarding
matters that touch on vital aspects of their life, such as electricity and
water supplies, you open the door wide for fake news, and more dangerously, for
baseless rumors.
There was also lack of transparency on the part of some
government bodies because, for example, there was a problem with telecom
networks. This included many people being unable to make phone calls or use
their mobile data. Some officials, however, insisted that things are business
as usual!
In addition, in a situation like this — no electricity,
expected disruptions to the water supply, bad or no telecoms services — you
expect to hear many rumors. Just imagine if there were rumors of deaths in
hospitals because of power and consequently oxygen outage, God forbid. Just
imagine if this rumor got a strong hold of the public’s attention. What would
have happened?
Another vital thing to keep in mind is whether, at the
technical and logistical level, our institutions are prepared with contingency
plans should something of this scale happen again. From what we saw on Friday,
nothing of the sort even exists — at least, this is the impression an average
person would have had in a situation like this. People need to be reassured
that their livelihood is not at risk, or else we will face an apocalyptic mode
of behavior, when individuals would only think of their survival.
What happened on Friday should not be forgotten. We need at
least a 20-year strategy on how utility supplies will continue flowing to our
households and businesses without interruption or compromising quality. This
scheme should entail a timetable for upgrades to the grid and resources
proportionate to the increase in population and urban expansion, maintenance
schedules, contingency plans, and, along with that, media guidelines on how
officials should react in an emergency like the one we saw on Friday.
Energy security is an extremely sensitive and serious issue,
and we should always deal with it as such, with long-term planning and efforts
to have in place alternatives that would keep the country’s vital facilities
functioning.
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