Locals living without power for 20 years in Aegean village

MANİSA

DHA Photo

Locals living in a village in the Aegean province of Manisa are expressing increased frustration, having been forced to live in harsh living conditions without power for the past two decades, Doğan News Agency has reported. 

Some 150 locals in the Çambeyli village said they had not had any electric appliances in their residences for 20 years due to a lack of power even though their power subscription request was accepted by authorities. They added that their houses have been illuminated only with gas lamps.

According to locals, the Gediz Electricity Distribution Company accepted their subscription request last year but later stated there were missing documents in their subscription process.   

Nuri Urhan, the village chief of the neighborhood, said they had completed the missing documents, but they had still not received any electricity service in the village.

Meanwhile, 65-year-old villager Arif Demir, nicknamed “the man with the lighter,” has become a symbol of the villagers’ struggle against being the lack of electricity.

He even caught the attention of politicians who visited the neighborhood by lighting his lighter during their speeches.

Elections to the position of village chief have also become increasingly dominated by promises to bring power to the village.

Urhan noted that the situation of the village had not changed despite Demir’s efforts. However, he vowed to continue the struggle to bring power to the village after 20 years without electricity.

Çambeyli residents produce 5 tons of milk from 800 bovine and 150 ovine animals a day.