Damascus: Assad regime demands displaced to pay electricity invoices

The regime’s General Establishment for Electricity Distribution has recently started collecting invoice receivables for the period during which the south of Damascus was outside the regime's control, as Government departments stopped most of the legal transactions unless the bills accumulated for years are paid.

Abu al-Khair, a resident of Yalda in southern Damascus, said that the Establishment has recently started asking residents in the area, to pay electricity bills issued on their meters during the years the resistance controlled the area, stressing that the state’s institutions stopped providing services to the people during that period.

“These bills date back to December 2012, when the regime targeted the main power station in al-Hajar al-Aswad, which is the main distributer for about 50 percent of Yalda, Babbila, and Beit Sahem. These towns were almost entirely cut off, except for a few hours, when they received electricity from neighboring areas with direct contact, until it was completely cut off in March 2013.”