Bahrain Mirror: The Al-Wasat newspaper said that the Electricity and Water Authority asked Bahraini families to choose between paying the bills or having the electricity cut off, stressing that the employees of the authority distributed on Monday (August 10, 2015) warnings to the residents of the Buri area.

The newspaper added that the authority had already sent about two months ago 15 warnings to the houses in Isa Town, most of which are doomed to collapse and occupied by widows or divorced women. The warning read: "Dear customer, you were noticed about your due fees that you haven't paid until now, thus, the electricity will be cut off from your houses within 3 days from any internal or external output in case we could not reach the location of the electricity meter. You will also be responsible for paying the cost of reconnecting the power."

The requests of some citizens and members of municipality councils to have the authority take into account the conditions of "poor people in society and those of limited income" failed to stop the warnings of the authority which continued to send warnings to collect the due electricity and water fees, that reach 200 million BD annually, according to the Minister of Energy AbdulHussain Mirza.

In their attempts to justify the delay in paying the due fees, the citizens blamed the official side, in particular, saying they are waiting for "another royal decree to exempt them from the arrears" which the authority deemed an unconvincing justification, highlighting, at the same time, that the information it has reveals that these families can afford paying bills, except a small group of citizens who are being dealt with in the light of the Prime Minister's directions to address the problem of those who cannot pay the bills."

The Arabic Issue