CAIRO - He decided to take on another job besides his original one, in order to meet the needs of his family. Mahmoud Moustafa, a communications engineer, was forced to find work as a programmer in another company at night, in order to put food on the table for his children. “None of our problems has been solved since the revolution. We are suffering from instability in everything in our lives, especially in prices," says Moustafa, 35. “My salary from my regular job is no longer enough to provide for all my family's needs." Moustafa had to look for a job vacancy in the local newspapers when the private-sector company he works for slashed his monthly salary by almost 50 per cent. This was no longer enough to survive on, so he had to work extra hours in another place to allow his family to live with dignity. Like millions of other Egyptians, Moustafa thought that, after the January Revolution, things would improve for him. "I hoped that the ousting of the former regime would usher in better living conditions," he said. But, two years later, the problems are still there and nothing has been done to improve life for the Egyptians. “I slave day and night just to afford the main things in life. Despite working in two places, I've only just got enough money for food, nothing else," sadly adds Moustafa, who is married with two children and earns LE1,200 from his day shift and LE800 from his job at night. The prices of consumer goods keep on rising, with supermarket owners having recently raised their prices by between 20 and 30 per cent. With this increase in the prices of foodstuffs and other goods, the Government dramatically increased the prices of the gas cylinder last week, making life even more difficult for tens of millions of people. “It was the Ministry of Oil, not the Ministry of Supply, which increased the price of the cylinders," said Nasser el-Frash, the Ministry of Supply spokesman. “This is the responsibility of the Ministry of Oil, while we are just responsible for oversight and inspection." The Government has raised the price of domestic cylinders by 60 per cent to LE8 and doubled the price of the cylinders used by shops to LE16. Because of this, many of the distributors are refusing to distribute the cylinders. They say that, when the domestic cylinders cost LE5, they sold them for LE10, making some nice commission. But, with the increase in price to LE8, the people will refuse to pay more than LE10, thereby drastically reducing the distributors' commission. “Increasing the price of the cylinders will cause me to make a loss if I don't increase the prices of my sandwiches," Amm Ahmed Farag, who owns a little fuul and ta'amyia shop, said. “I don't want to raise my prices, as these sandwiches are the food of the poor, but at the same time the Government doesn't give me any alternative," he adds sadly. Amm Farag says that the problem is not just the increase in cylinder prices, but the knock-on effect, as many other things will also become far more expensive. He explains that sometimes he has to resort to buying cylinders for a very high price from the black market, because of the scarcity. “It is abnormal to see prices increasing all the time," says Amm Farag nervously. “I hope that the Government realises how much the people are suffering." Abdel-Hadi Bayoumi, a doorman, says that the Government doesn't care about the poor, despite its statements on TV to the contrary. “The Government has yet to do anything good for the nation, especially the poor. I have to feed my family fuul every day and I can barely last each month with what I get including tips. What will happen when food gets even more expensive?" asks Bayoumi, whose monthly pay is only LE500. He says that he wants the Government to remember that it is responsible for people's wellbeing; it must solve their problems, not exacerbate them. “I really want to ask the Government when the suffering will stop. I hope that it can live up to its responsibilities and find viable solutions, as the continuous price rises are a terrible crisis for us." ($1 = LE6.83)
