CAIRO - “They won't beat me," she said nervously, referring to the Government officials, after she experienced several times of power cut. Captain Nora is a gym owner, who put all her money in funding her life project, which is a little nice gym for ladies in Nasr City, Cairo. After few days of opening her place and when ladies started to know and go to it, they experience an everyday power cut that may last for two hours or more. "Tell me how to operate a gym without electricity when most devices work with power. But nothing will beat me. I will increase the aerobic classes and will work with the light of candles," said Nora in challenge. The power cuts have caused huge frustration among Egyptians, some of whom have to spend hours without electricity daily and are forced to bear the summer heat without air conditioning. Nora, who started her career recently and thought she will gain a good profit, is specifying part of her expanses to buy candles to cope with the new situation imposed by the government, over her as well as all Egyptians. "I thought of buying an electricity generator, but it is not cheap and there is also an oil problem as well," she added. "But in spite of all that I'm facing, I won't give up," said the captain, who despite the darkness of the place, asked her clients not to leave and to start the aerobic class. The Egyptian government announced that more electricity cuts are expected in the upcoming period and called on people to limit their electricity usage. According to Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, Egypt has had a 10 per cent deficit in electricity sector for the past three years. While Egypt has the capacity to produce up to 28,000 megawatts of electricity, the country currently only produces 23,000 to 24,000 megawatts due to various reasons including fuel shortages and decrease in production by some power plants, Qandil quoted as saying in a conference two months ago. A few days ago, the Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry announced that power cuts in Egypt are due to a lack of funds to buy fuel for power stations. Egypt has endured two years of political instability since the toppling of ex-president Mohamed Hosni Mubarak and is trying to control a soaring budget deficit and secure a $4.8 billion loan from the IMF. Power cuts have become a major problem as the government struggles to meet the country's fuel supply needs. The problem is expected to worsen as summer approaches. Abdel Fattah el-Rayes is a street peddler, who used to sell goods like women accessories and wallets is now substituted accessories with a large number of torches and lighters. "Every day I saw number of people standing in front of nearby buildings waiting for the light to come in. I thought why not sell some torches to them and urge them to use the stairs and practice some sports," joked the seller. "I have all sizes, from very small, which you can put in your bag or pocket as well as large ones," he explained. "I thought to sell something useful rather than accessories. We sellers, are trying to 'live' in spite of all hindrances. A seller should be active," he added. In a recent statement, the Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry said the main reason for the power cuts was the state-run electricity sector's inability to arrange the necessary cash money to supply fuels for some power stations. Shifting the blame to the Ministry of Electricity and Power, the Petroleum Ministry said it had written a number of letters to power industry officials in recent months warning that failure to arrange financing would disrupt fuel supplies. The crisis becomes tangible, as queues of microbuses, trucks and buses extend outside gas stations for hours. Last week, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Osama Kamal, told a local newspaper that the Finance Ministry had allocated $235 million to pay off a "long queue of tankers" waiting off the coast. Although the Petroleum Ministry stated that it has supplied the market with additional amounts of diesel and that the crisis is easing, a number of fuel station owners say the quantities they receive do not suffice to cover market consumption. This solution seemed not to be a good one because it didn't solve the shortages state in-subsidised diesel, which has paralysed transportation in many parts of the country. To prepare for what some are expecting to be prolonged power outages, many people have looked in to purchasing electricity generators, which ironically run on diesel as well. "It seems that a hot, dark summer awaits us. But I'm happy, at least, I will have a reason not to pay the electricity bill," said Mohamed Roushdy, an activist who is part of a campaign that aims to urge people not to pay the electricity bill and to demonstrate against this power cuts.
