Minister of Electricity and Water Abdelaziz Abdelletif Al-Ibrahim announced Sunday that the ministry has collected KD 420 million of delayed power bills from consumers over the past two years.
In a press statement, Al-Ibrahim, who doubles as Minister of Public Works, estimated that the ministry collects an estimated of KD 40,000-800,000 on a daily basis of electricity fees in addition to the nationals' debt installments.
He noted that the Ministry has referred recently to the Public Prosecution six files of water theft, stressing violators should be held account.
Referring to the huge pressure on the Ministry due to increase in power consumption in the summer, Al-Ibrahim admitted that "The ministry is undergoing a critical time," but he expected that the summer season will go smoothly.
Asked about Kuwait Dive Team's call for halting Sheikh Jaber Bridge piling works, Al-Ibrahim said the Environment Public Authority (EPA) is the concerned party with regard to the assessment of environmental impact of the projects and the EPA had approved the piling process.
He added the EPA asked the ministry one year ago to help build new homes for coral reefs, shrimp and other marine species away from the working area. The new homes were built and the species were moved a new place since January, he said.
He confirmed that Ministry's projects are meant to boost the state's power production and the Ministry will proceed with its projects to achieve this goal.