I haven't had steady power since Sunday. It was completely out between Sunday and Wednesday. To confound things, both sectors of Kosovo B (one of the two power plants for Kosovo, the other being Kosovo A) are down and because Kosovo imported so much power durning Ramadan, there is a cash flow problem which means there's no money to pay to import power. The paying neighborhoods supposedly are on a 3-hours-on/3-hours-off schedule, but I'm getting a few moments on and hours and hours off. Everyone is disgruntled. Conversations revolve around the perceived corruption within the power company: the millions of missing Euros, the indifference of the employees, the need for someone to get their act together and solve Kosovo's power issue.
If the power issues aren't solved, foreign investors are likely to maintain disinterest in Kosovo, and economic development remains stuck. An independent nation or not, Kosovo needs to move towards becoming a functioning European entity. The irregularity of power stymies that.
I see people who are fed up, tired of the independence issue, and ready...ready to have steady employment with a European wage; ready to have a consistent supply of water and power; ready to have health care; ready to end corruption in government, education, and the medical professions. Kosovars are ready to emerge from the post-conflict emergency phase they've been in since 1999.
Now all eyes are on the newly-elected government to see if the campaign promises the candidates gave hold any water. Water! Power! Transparency! As UNMIK (the UN Mission in Kosovo) phases out of Kosovo and the EU transitions in, will that improve the living conditions of the average family living in Kosovo? What will happen when Kosovo declares independence? All I really hope is that the people I've met are able to live out their well-intentioned lives within a stable Kosovo.
Well...I also hope I'll have regular power by this afternoon.
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