CAIRO - An acute crisis of Government subsidised diesel fuel and butane cylinders hit the Delta and Upper Egyptian Governorates of Daqahliya and Minya respectively for two days in a row. About 12 people were injured during clashes in Mansura City over a diesel fuel shortage, a security official said. “About 150 drivers, farmers and construction workers protested the lack of diesel and petrol," the official said. The demonstrators called on police to crack down on the black marketeers, he said, adding that police seized 70,000 litres (18,200 gallons) of fuel. “The petrol stations suffer from a drastic reduction in fuel supplies in Mansura City," the official said. Other local officials said work with agricultural equipment was slowing down because of the shortage of fuel. The authorities have imposed a ban on the sale of fuel in jerrycans except for agricultural purposes, and ordered all petrol stations to close overnight. Meanwhile, Minya Governorate's outlets have run out of the cylinders, which are being sold on the black market for LE35 a unit, whereas its price for customers is LE3.5, thousands of residents have complained. Acute shortages of the cylinders have caused hours-long lines and violence at some sites in poor neighbourhoods in Minya City, they said, adding that housewives have started resorting to the traditional kerosine-fired Primuses, which their grandmothers had used for cooking a long time ago. At least 12 people have been injured in fights between customers in a long queue in the city, while many women fainted of exhaustion or other medical problems aggravated by waiting in the heat weather, eye witnesses said. “Our life has become so miserable," said one Minya housewife, who claimed that she had stood for two hours to get a butane cylinder. “I can't afford unsubsidised butane cylinder, which is sold for LE 35," she said. The supply of subsidised butane cylinders has been decreasing sharply in Minya City, the capital of Minya Governorate, during the past week. Many customers believe that the Government-run depots sell some of their butane cylinders on the black market to restaurant and factory owners rather than selling them to the people. “The Government has done nothing to increase the production and distribution of subsidised butane cylinders to cope with the shortage," Omar Abdul Wahid, a grocery shop owner, said, adding that an average household consumes one butane cylinder a week.
