Luggage handlers at Cairo Airport were in for a surprise last week. While handling the luggage of passengers coming from the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, the workers were struck by strange sounds coming from a large box. Suspicious of the content, they notified the airport authorities. Their surprise doubled on opening the box. A small electrical generator was inside. Experts, quoted in the local media, said the high temperatures caused the device to make the eerie sounds. The owner of the box said that he had bought the generator in Libya to provide power for his child, a secondary school student, to be able to study at night, whenever there are power cuts in Egypt. The incident came days after governmental officials asked the public to brace themselves for frequent electricity cuts this summer. Even before the summer sets in, many areas around the country are plunged into darkness for hours every day. Fearing the worst, householders have been going on a shopping spree for emergency lamps, generators and candles. The power cuts have started to happen weeks before students at the different educational stages are due to sit for their end-of-year examinations. In the run-up to the exams, private lessons are so intense that any power cuts are a disaster. It is not clear why such outages should have become so frequent. A few years ago, power cuts were rare. The problem has sparked a row between the ministries of electricity and oil. Electricity officials have accused the Oil Ministry of failing to provide enough natural gas for powering electricity-generating stations. For their part, the oil officials charge that the Electricity Ministry has defaulted on its fuel bills. The public, already grappling with hikes in the prices of almost every commodity, cannot understand why the two ministries should be at each other's throat, although they belong to the same Government. Their squabbling comes as a shortage of the state-subsidised diesel fuel continues to pinch. For months now, the lack of this fuel, used in public transport vehicles, agricultural machinery and fishing boats, has triggered pitched battles and even deadly shootings at petrol stations. The crisis has given rise to a thriving black market for diesel. The cynics say it is easier now in Egypt to get drugs than diesel, while protests by angry drivers and farmers are as frequent and vociferous as those by opposition activists. The other day, firemen on duty in the Upper Egyptian Governorate of el-Minya had to abandon their engine after it ran out of diesel fuel, according to the independent newspaper Al-Youm Al-Saba. The paper did not say whether any fires broke out that day. The Government has repeatedly blamed the shortage on massive smuggling, contending that the supply of diesel actually exceeds the local demand. But detractors of the Islamist-led Government attribute the fuel crunch to a drop in foreign earnings necessary to bankroll imports, including fuel. However, a total of $5 billion pledged last week by Qatar and Libya should replenish Egypt's foreign currency holdings and shore up its finances. Moreover, Qatar has promised to offer natural gas to Egypt to help improve its energy situation. Until this happens, the public are continuing to stock up on candles, emergency lamps and generators for the dark days ahead.
