The Social Solidarity Ministry has issued recommendations for a new system for the distribution of butane gas cylinders aimed at preventing their sale on the black market. The ministry attributed the current butane shortage not to supply problems, but to the fact that gas distribution outlets were hoarding cylinders in order to sell them on the black market at marked-up prices. The new system would ensure that cylinders were not sold to factories for use as fuel, since the state subsidizes butane expressly for individuals holding ration cards and strictly for home use. Meanwhile, Giza provincial authorities drew up a committee mandated with inspecting butane distribution outlets in order to make sure gas cylinders were being sold only to individual consumers. A committee representative is currently present at every distribution outlet in Giza. In the delta province of Sharqiya, a similar committee was formed to guarantee that local butane factories fill cylinders with set quantities of gas, and that they are distributed to licensed outlets rather than to informal vendors for sale on the black market. In the Qalyubiya province north of Cairo and in the coastal city of Damietta, police seized some 4000 cylinders Monday that had been on their way to be sold on the black market. Meanwhile, hordes of people in various provinces continued to line up outside local distribution outlets in hopes of buying gas cylinders. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
