Gaza, January 24, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - The electricity company in the Gaza Strip warned on Saturday evening that a severe shortage of fuel will force it to shut down by the next morning.

Jamal Al-Dardasawi, the director of public relations for the company, said: "Since Saturday afternoon, the power station has been producing 30 MW instead of 65 MW because of lack of fuel needed to run it."

He added: "The gradual decline in station production is a result of Israeli restrictions on fuel imports. If Israel does not resume our fuel supply, the company will not be able to provide the Strip with electricity on Sunday morning, which means a severe outage."

He pointed out that the stoppage would lead to confusion in electricity distribution. "The company has already been forced to cut off electricity for six hours every two days in different areas, and this new situation will force us to cut off electricity for 12 hours and supply it only for few hours a day."

Al-Dardasawi said that as of publication, no progress had been made to re-supply the station with fuel.However, he hoped the problem would be resolved during the next few hours.

Photo Mohammed Asad