When his neighborhood is plunged into darkness, high school student Maximos Youssef is forced to study for his year-end exams – critical in determining his future job prospects – by the light of a candle.
Youssef says he is in no mood to learn, and the flame only makes sweltering summer nights without fan or air conditioner even hotter. But, he says, “there is no other option. We have exams. We need to study.”
The 18-year-old is one of millions of Egyptians whose tempers have been frayed by the recurrent power cuts hitting the country in recent days, blamed on – and contributing to – the nation’s plummeting reserves of foreign currency.
The outages have sparked scattered street protests across Egypt and calls on social networking sites for people to stop paying electricity bills, compounding the challenges facing President Mohammed Morsi and undermining the Islamist leader’s attempts to restore a sense of normalcy after two years of turmoil since the country’s 2011 uprising.
Morsi says Egypt only has 80 percent of its electricity needs met and that its turbines are outdated. “We have a real energy problem in Egypt,” he told reporters over the weekend.
A surge in crime, persistent street violence and political instability have compounded the crisis by scaring away tourists and investors, leaving the country cash-strapped for fuel needed to keep power stations running.
In the southern city of Luxor, a popular tourist destination, the lights went out in the international airport and in ancient Egyptian temples recently -raising fears that the power outages will further sap tourism.
Fuel shortages have already impeded daily life for millions. For months, drivers have had to wait hours in long lines to buy subsidized fuel. Some factory owners have turned to the black market to cover their needs.
While blackouts occurred under Egypt’s longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in the uprising, they became more frequent last summer. As temperatures climb again this year they have become part of daily life, even in the most upscale districts of the capital.
The outages have come to symbolize the disorder of the post-Mubarak era.
“It certainly is state mismanagement,” said Saber Mohammed Saber, a 30-year-old chauffeur. “The president is not competent,” he said. “This didn’t happen in the time of Hosni Mubarak.”
Morsi says his government is arranging to cut off electricity for a maximum of two hours twice daily, but residents of poorer towns and villages complain that the outages last much longer.
Amir el-Deeb, 29, who lives in the poor Boulaq el-Dakrour district of Giza near Cairo, says lights go out five times a day there. He is particularly concerned because the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in July and those who observe the daytime fast often stay up late at night for prayers and meals.
The government has urged citizens to reduce electricity use during the summer. Last year, Prime Minister Hesham Kandil was mocked for advising citizens to gather at home in one room and wear cotton as a way to cut down on air conditioning use. Political satirists dubbed him “Hesham Cottonil”, referring to one of Egypt’s largest undergarment manufacturers.
Many said Kandil’s comments revealed that Morsi’s government does not have concrete solutions to the power crisis, which has been politicized by opposition groups who say the government is failing to provide basic services.
AP
