By Safaa Abdoun
Egyptians were dealt several blows this year ranging from floods and diseases to power cuts and gas shortages, bringing into question the government’s ability to handle such disasters, as some remain unresolved.
Power cuts
Power outages have been plaguing the nation since the beginning of Ramadan as summer temperatures exceeded 40°C, combined with higher consumption near sunset during the holy month which eventually overloaded the grid. Egypt is expected to spend billions on plans to add electricity generators powered by gas.
Electricity Minister Hassan Younes said the government plans on adding new projects and expanding the national network to increase the current per capita share of electricity which is currently at 1790 KW hours annually.
However at the time, he called on Egyptians to conserve power and cut back on display lights and large lanterns that adorn homes and buildings during the month of Ramadan.
Younes outlined a medium term plan which started in 2007 and is expected to wrap up in 2012, adding capacity of up to about 9200 MW to strengthen the electricity grid to meet the growing load.
Long term nuclear plans are also slated with the government announcing El-Dabaa as the location of Egypt’s first nuclear plant.
Several projects are underway in line with plans to generate 20 percent of power through renewable energy sources by 2020.
Aswan floods
On Jan. 18, the Sinai Peninsula was struck by floods that destroyed 780 homes, submerged 1,076 others and displaced tens of thousands of people, according to local authorities.
Residents complained of negligence by the authorities and the lack of appropriate compensation.
Floods also occurred in Aswan, more than 800 km south of Cairo, during the same month. The government had also promised to give LE 25,000 ($4,587) in compensation to the owners of destroyed homes and LE 15,000 ($2,752) to those whose homes were partially damaged or submerged by the floods.
At the time, the governor of Aswan, Mustafa Al-Sayed, announced that the total compensation in his governorate would reach LE 40 million ($7.2 million).
However, by June, more than five months the flash floods, thousands of victims were still without proper shelter. Just 4,000 out of 10,000 families have been compensated, according to Helal Al-Bandarawi, an Aswan municipality official.
“The rest of the families will follow soon. We’ve already formed specialized committees to assess the damage and see who deserves compensation and who does not,” Al-Bandarawi said at the time.
The Egyptian government was strongly criticized for its inability to deal with the aftermath of the natural disaster, prompting angry reactions from those affected and igniting efforts from civil society. A campaign by television presenter Amr Adib managed to raise enough money to build 880 houses to help Aswan flood victims, garnering donations from architects, ministers, celebrities and several companies.
Renowned Egyptian architect Mamdouh Hamza offered to design the houses free of charge on the 100-acre piece of land the governorate donated for the project.
However, in March the governorate seized said piece of land. Al-Sayed referred all projects under Hamza’s firm’s supervision to the general prosecution for investigation after allegedly discovering irregularities in the designs submitted to build homes for the flood victims.
Hamza slammed the decision at a press conference in April as a “[personal] defamation and a blow to grassroots initiatives … There is a monopoly over charity work,” he said.
Butane gas shortages
In January 2010, Mohamed Tawfik Al-Sawafey, 43, died in Gharbeya when clashes erupted in a queue outside a butane gas cylinder warehouse. Reports suggest that his body was discovered only after the crowd had dispersed.
Butane gas cylinders are typically filled in factories then transported to warehouses. The cylinders are then sold to distributors who deliver them to people’s homes.
The shortage in butane gas is another crisis the government was faced with this year, igniting violence and clashes with the police as people gathered at gas cylinder outlets.
As a result of the violence and protests, the General Petroleum Authority announced that it would pump an additional 100,000 cylinders, raising the available quantity to 1.2 million cylinders a day.
Several governorates reported a slight improvement after the supply of cylinders in distribution outlets was increased.
According to a Bloomberg report, Egypt’s butane gas consumption increased to 32 million cylinders in December 2009, from 26 million during the five months before.
According to the Ministry of Social Solidarity, around 55 percent of all gas cylinders sold in the country are imported; but as a result of the global financial instability there has been a slight drop in imports.
However, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) began increasing butane gas imports from Saudi Arabia and Algeria after the riots began, though no delivery dates were given.
In December, Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Sameh Fahmy, confirmed the government’s increase of its butane provisions by 25 percent to meet increased consumption during the current winter season and up until February 2011.
In a note earlier this month, Beltone Financial said, “These comments come in response to reports of shortages in the provision of butane canisters in some governorates across Egypt such as Kafr El-Sheikh, Ismailia and Beni Suef in December, which led to the subsequent increase in their prices as a result of black market practices.”
“Under the new scheme, each family comprising one to three individuals will be entitled to one canister, a canister and a half for a family of four to five individuals, and two canisters for families of more than six individuals.
The proposed price is expected to be LE 5 per canister, with additional LE 2 for home delivery.
“The mechanism also includes the option of providing canisters with a partial subsidy, and without a ration card, in which case, the price will be LE 25 per canister.”
Swine flu
This year saw a decline in the global pandemic swine flu, which caused a lot of tension and disruptions for educational institutions in 2009.
The highest number of swine flu cases was reported in Egypt during the last week of December 2009 and beginning of January 2010. However, by the beginning of March the number of cases had substantially declined.
In November, official spokesperson to the Ministry of Health, Abdel Rahman Shahin, warned of an expected outbreak of the H1N1 virus in the upcoming couple of months. However, officials at the Ministry of Health expected the number of swine flu cases this year to be lower than that of last year due to the fact that citizens are more aware of the precautionary measures they have to take, as well as the H1N1 virus symptoms so they directly report to the nearest hospitals once they develop them.
The virus started appearing again with 75 reported cases during late October and November, however Shahin quelled concerns, quoting World Health Organization’s Director General, Margaret Chan’s latest statement regarding swine flu.
“As we enter the post-pandemic period, this does not mean that the H1N1 virus has gone away. Based on experience with past pandemics, we expect the H1N1 virus to take on the behavior of a seasonal influenza virus and continue to circulate for some years to come.
In the post-pandemic period, localized outbreaks of different magnitude may show significant levels of H1N1 transmission,” she said in the Aug. 10 statement.
