• published: 15 Apr 2016
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The president of Venezuela announced yesterday that he will alter his country's time zone to try to save power in the drought-hit nation. President Nicolas Maduro also revealed he was imposing punitive rationing on 15 shopping malls and declared Monday an impromptu public holiday in an effort to further conserve energy. Almost 70 per cent of the South American country's electricity comes from hydro power and officials have been warning for weeks that the water level behind the nation's largest dam has fallen to near its minimum operating level. If the government had to shut down the dam, electricity supply would be crippled. Many of the South American nation's 29 million people are suffering daily water and electricity cuts as water levels recede at the Guri dam complex in the north east of the country. Maduro, 53, said that from May 1 he planned to change Venezuela's time scheme as a way to save electricity. He said: 'It's a very simple measure that represents an important saving.' His predecessor Hugo Chavez famously put Venezuela's clocks back half an hour in 2007 to allow children to wake up in daylight. Maduro, whose popularity has suffered amid a national economic crisis and stuttering public services, said some major shopping centers had failed to supply their own generators despite being told to do so five years ago. 'The time has come to take a drastic rationing measure against a group of about 15 malls who did not obey the law and are consuming without conscience at a critical moment due to the 'El Nino' phenomenon,' he said. The socialist government says the El Nino weather pattern is to blame for Venezuela's water and power problems. But critics insist the state is also responsible for inadequate preparation, investment and diversification of electricity sources. In a further bid to save energy, Maduro also decreed Monday a public holiday, on top of a Tuesday national anniversary. 'I am declaring Monday, April 18 a non-working day and there will be no educational activity either,' Maduro told thousands of supporters Thursday at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas. The president had already given public workers Fridays off, and raised eyebrows by urging women to cut usage of hair dryers. The power problems have added to suffering from economic contraction, the world's highest inflation, shortages of basic goods and lengthy lines at shops around the nation. The opposition coalition is trying to oust Maduro via street protests or a referendum to end his six-year term. One opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, said the president was giving holidays not because of the power situation but to delay the formal steps needed to trigger a referendum. 'He will end in the rubbish-bin of political history,' Capriles scoffed on Twitter. 'As he has never liked working, he wants the whole country to be like that.' Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves, but the government has resisted using crude to generate electricity, calling it inefficient. The president has dispatched the army to monitor energy compliance.