Is there a shortage of diesel or not, Hani Mohsen asks Does the sight of yet more queues forming, this time in front of gas stations, herald yet another shortage? So it would seem, as heavy transport vehicles, tourist buses, minibuses and lorries line up in their hundreds, waiting -- not always patiently -- to fill their tanks with diesel. "The diesel shortage is one more crisis," wrote Hamdi El-Husseini in the independent daily Al-Yom Al-Sabei. "The surprising thing is that though the bread crisis is now history and we don't see queues in front of bakeries any more, and the same is true for gas cylinders, the public has still to be offered a credible explanation for what caused the shortages in the first place or told what actions have been taken to prevent them happening again." So what has caused the current spate of panic buying? It is surely no coincidence that the queues were preceded by rumours that the price of diesel, currently LE1.10 per litre, was about to be raised. "If diesel prices increase then so will fares," said a micro-bus driver in Cairo's Shubra district. "We simply cannot afford to absorb any more overheads." The threat of a price increase has frayed tempers that are already worn. There have been reports that two drivers were killed after arguing in a queue that had formed for diesel in Sharqiya governorate. "I live amid total chaos. There are fights and verbal abuse between drivers every couple of minutes," complains the owner of a diesel gas station on the Ring Road. "I had to call the police station for help and they sent security personnel to organise the queues. They left after two hours, and then it was back to square one." The crisis, he adds, has been simmering for at least a month. "I make a daily order of 80,000 litres from the supplier but only ever receive between 40,000 and 50,000," he complains. There are reports of the shortages impacting on the agricultural sector, with small farmers in Ismailia complaining that they can no longer irrigate their land because they cannot obtain the diesel that fuels irrigation pumps. The government has vowed to end shortages before the week is out. Cabinet spokesman Magdi Radi has announced that distributors' orders will be met in full by government suppliers and reiterated that there are no plans to increase the retail price of diesel.
