By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: For almost a month, a great part of Shuwaikh Industrial goes dark as night falls. Streetlights have been out of service since last month in almost the entire block, including many streets. Packs of stray dogs roam in this area, and it can be dangerous at night without lights.

Kuwait Times called the emergency line of the Ministry of Electricity and Water (152), which is responsible for resolving this problem. After three complaints made on the MEW hotline and follow-ups after a week of each complaint, the technician of the MEW said this is not their responsibility as these streetlights are located in an industrial area.

This reporter registered the complaints with her personal phone number. After calling yesterday to follow up on the complaint, the operator claimed that the number is not registered and there are no complaints about the lights. It's not clear why the complaints disappeared from their system.

It's also not clear why MEW is not in charge of fixing streetlights in public streets located in an industrial area, as they fix lights on the adjacent Airport Road. After the last complaint was made yesterday, the MEW technician called back and said they will not fix it, as the Public Authority for Industry (PAI) is responsible for this area. He didn't provide any contact number or name of the department in charge, saying he will call back with more information. But there was no response by the time of going to press.

Kuwait Times then contacted PAI, whose call center operator noted that they have a department for electricity maintenance. She provided seven phone numbers of engineers, technicians and a director. But most numbers are out of service and two numbers did not answer. This reporter also sent an email describing the problem, in addition to posting the same complaint on the PAI website. In response, an email was sent noting that the complaint was received and they will respond soon.