Karl Schembri looks at the dangers of using portable generators during the electricity crisis in Gaza.
Oxfam has just launched an awareness-raising campaign for Palestinians in Gaza about the dangers of using portable generators. They have become widely used because of the electricity crisis caused by the Israeli blockade, and by a funding gap for the purchase of the industrial fuel needed to operate Gaza’s sole power plant. As a consequence, Palestinians are increasingly using generators to power their homes and work places to continue to live as normally as possible. However, the misuse of some generators resulted in 75 deaths last year according to the Gazan authorities, and 15 fatalities were reported in the first two months of this year alone – mainly from fires and carbon monoxide poisoning.
One portable generator produces as much carbon monoxide as several hundred cars. It is an odourless and invisible gas that kills within minutes. Approaching working generators with a flame or while smoking has already provoked deadly fires in many households. This has prompted Oxfam, together with local partners, to launch an information campaign across the Gaza Strip, distributing brochures and posters to shops, public places, hospitals and schools, and directly to many families.
The main slogan adopted for the campaign is: “Its place is outside. Generators in closed areas kill people. Don’t be the next victim.” The brochures outline step-by-step instructions on how to operate the generator safely before, during and after switching it on.
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Oxfam in action: Gaza Humanitarian crisis
Where we work: The occupied Palestinian territories and Israel
Podcast transcript
This is the sound of blackouts in Gaza. Shops – offices and houses – equipped with mobile generators as daily power cuts disrupt life in the Gaza Strip.
Smuggled from Egypt through the tunnels, generators have become a part of daily life here.
Since the European Union stopped funding Gaza’s energy last December, the fuel needed to operate Gaza’s power plant remains in short supply, forcing people to find their own energy sources.
But besides the headache that comes with the pervasive noise of generators, the rise in their use is also creating new victims.
Last year, a total of 75 Palestinians died from carbon monoxide gas poisoning or fires from generators, and 15 died and 27 people were injured in the first two months of this year.
Enaam Abu Nida, an Oxfam worker in Gaza, nearly died together with her 20-year-old daughter, from the lethal gas coming out of their generator at home.
“When the electricity turned off I had necessary work because I work as a volunteer. In that time I asked my husband to run the generator and to close the door because I was afraid it would be noisy for my neighbours, and worked for about two and a half hours without feeling any dangerous things for me or for my daughter. But suddenly my daughter said to me that she felt tired and had a headache. When I stood up to help her she fell down. I couldn’t stand up to help her because I felt very tired. I’m lucky because my son walked in at that time. I said to him “hurry to your sister”. He called his father to turn off the generator. The problem was from the generator. They took us to hospital and we spent from 3am till 2.30pm, and they gave us oxygen and treatment.”
To prevent more accidents, Oxfam has just launched an awareness campaign informing Palestinians on how to use their generators safely – with messages urging users to keep the machines outside and away from flames.
Oxfam’s food security assistant Basil Kanoa:
“Now Oxfam is working on a community awareness campaign regarding the best use of generators and how to decrease the accidents among the population. We observed some problems brought about by the misuse of generators that lead to death cases because of carbon monoxide poisoning. We will use our community awareness campaign, distributing our brochures and posters among targeted beneficiaries.”
Brochures and posters giving step-by-step instructions on how to use generators are being distributed in shops, clinics, schools and mosques. Oxfam is also distributing the material to thousands of families through its main partners in Gaza.
Enaam says she now wants to use her experience to warn others about generator safety.
“I have learnt and I want to teach many people: take care about generators, don’t put it inside, don’t let children near, or smoke or light fire next to the generators, and it must be outside the room.”
Karl Schembri in Gaza for Oxfam