Ouled Djellal (Biskra), Algeria - Sonelgaz headquarters and nine service vehicles set fire to by protestors furious because of power shortages

elwatan

12/07/2011 - "On the night of Monday to Sunday at 22:30, the people of Ouled Djellal, exasperated by repeated power cuts and other outages, went into action.
They set fire to the headquarters of Sonelgaz after wounding two security guards who tried to protect the institution; they were hospitalized. We also deplore the burning of no less than nine service vehicles and two cars parked in the parking Sonelgaz. Administrative furniture, desks, computers, documents and other records were thrown into the street and burned by rioters. Even the store that housed supplies and electrical parts has not escaped the devastating fury of the protesters. Initially it was, it seems, that cuts and load shedding made Sunday by the department management of the power transmission network (GRTE) based in Setif, were to avoid the blackout in many parts of the east, which are the source of the ire of the citizens of Ziban.
Some say that the culprit is Chakib Khelil, the former energy minister, who would not agree in the 2000's to power plants paramount to the "economic development" gargled by power, for plants running on natural gas demanded and required by all the people of Ziban, local authorities in the lead. His answer was this: "I cannot give power to Ziban, if not all other wilayas will ask the same thing. But I assure you, we are building half a dozen stations on the coast to export electricity to Europe. ""