Generator breakdowns keep mechanic hopping (with photo)

BAGHDAD — Power blackouts in a summer of extreme heat, plus a flood of poorly made generators to power air conditioners, add up to one thing for mechanic Ali Wadi — plenty of business.

Wadi, 50, was an auto mechanic before the U.S. invasion in 2003, but then power shortages began, and hundreds of thousands of generators started to sell in Iraq.

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The generators sold in Iraq are designed for family picnics or a two-hour blackout, he says, “not to run 16 hours a day.”

The supply of power in the Iraqi capital has decreased since the invasion mostly because of sabotage and the assassinations of technicians and engineers.

Also, provincial governors have taken their power stations off the national grid, says Electricity Ministry spokesman Ibrahim Zaidan.

“Baghdad is paying the price for this,” Zaidan says.

Power generation nationally meets about half of demand, according to the U.S. State Department. Many parts of Baghdad get only a few hours of electricity a day.

Poor-quality generators, mostly made in China, sometimes last only three hours, Wadi says. Spare parts often break within a few hours of making repairs. The fuel has too much lead, which ruins engines. And there is no longer a government regulating agency capable of enforcing standards, he says.

“If the government were watching the generators that are imported like before, no bad generators would enter the country,” Wadi says. …