(Photo By: Basil El-Dabh)
Microbus drivers brought traffic in Giza to a standstill after initiating a strike on Sunday morning in response to the country’s current diesel fuel crisis. Dozens of drivers blocked the entrance to the Ring Road on Al-Bahr Al-Azam Street in Giza and the Ring Road itself, using bricks and microbuses to prevent vehicles from entering the vital roadway.
People attempting to access the highway in other vehicles argued with the drivers, who stood along the barricades they had erected.
“There is no petrol,” said Mostafa, a microbus driver who stood at the Ring Road entrance. “We work one day and then can’t work the next day, because we can’t find diesel,” he added.
“The situation has only gotten worse. We want to move forward but the country keeps moving backwards,” said Mohamed, another driver
“Our shifts are eight hours long,” said one of the protesters. “We sometimes spend five of those hours looking for fuel or in a line at a station that serves it.”
“We have to pay for the fuel shortage and pay for the traffic at the same time,” said Ahmed, another driver.
Many of the drivers said they would not raise prices for their passengers, which would pass the hardship on to their customers and further jeopardise their business.
The group said that it would continue its strike until the government made concrete steps to make diesel fuel more accessible.
