A sign on a farm trailer reading 'Food grows where water flows,' hangs over dry, cracked mud at the edge of a farm April 16, 2009 near Buttonwillow, California. (Photo : Getty Images/David McNew)
In a bid to cut down electricity consumption, Venezuela's government has ordered public workers to work only on Mondays and Tuesdays until the El Niño phenomenon is over.
"There will be no work in the public sector on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, except for fundamental and necessary tasks," BBC quoted Vice President Aristobulo Isturiz as saying. Around 20 percent of the country's workforce or 2.6 million public sector employees were reportedly affected by this drastic measure to save electricity and that it will most likely last until the end of May and it remains unclear if the employees will be paid on the 3-day a week leave or not.
The power shortage is the result of the drought conditions on the nation's main source of electricity, Guri's hydroelectric dam, which is caused by the El Niño phenomenon. The dam provides around 66 percent of energy needs in the country.
The government has already adopted different measures to manage the energy crisis, including a four-hour daily power outage on eight regions in the country. Earlier this week, the government put the clocks forward by half an hour to reduce demand for electricity in the early night.
Apart from that, primary and high schools would now be closed to students on Fridays. According to previous reports, President Nicolas Maduro expressed that they are managing the situation in the best possible way, but stressed: "We are requesting international help, technical and financial aid to help revert the situation."
The power shortages raised discontent among citizen, who is already suffering shortages of medicines and basic goods. Businessmen and critics, on the other hand, say that the energy and shortages of basic good are outcomes of the inefficient running of the energy system and economic mismanagement.
As a result, the opposition leaders are now on the move to hold a referendum to remove president Maduro from office this year, as they wish to elect a new government that would get them out of the chaos. The electoral authorities already gave them the approval to seek 195,000 signatures as an initial step, Euro News reported.
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