There is no denying the fact that our country, ever since the Israel-US attack on Iran, has been affected and is presently suffering from a shortage of power and fuel.
There has been extensive coverage about how the energy crisis has forced numerous factories to halt production as fuel and power become unreliable. There has also been equal coverage regarding people’s woes with load shedding, cooking gas, and a lack of CNG for vehicles.
To this end, those within the government not taking responsibility, and suggesting that all is well, is not helpful.
While it may be factually correct to state that we are on the path to correcting these issues, there is a troubling gap between official messaging and the lived reality of businesses, workers, and the general population that we struggle to reconcile.
Governance depends on trust, and trust is built on candour and verifiable data. Unfortunately, this remains an area where we remain woefully inadequate.
The remedy is and has always been straightforward. The least the authorities can do is publish granular, timely figures and explain anomalies when they occur.
If increased supply is indeed being absorbed by rising residential demand, maintenance outages, contractual constraints, or price distortions that divert fuel from industry, say so and outline corrective steps. If distribution failures or affordability, rather than absolute scarcity, are the problem, policy responses must follow that diagnosis.
This should not be too much to ask.
Practical measures should include a transparent reporting dashboard, a rapid‑response channel for businesses to log outages, and short‑term relief for labour‑intensive manufacturers while longer reforms proceed.
Predictable energy underpins jobs, exports, and livelihoods for the entirety of the country. Spin and silence will only deepen economic pain and erode confidence.
Our leaders must therefore tell the whole story - honestly, promptly, and with the evidence to back it up - so that everyone in the country can move from confusion to coordinated action to best approach these challenging times.
