Media host Amr Adib on Sunday criticized an announcement by the National Electricity Control Center that the load shedding period in Egypt has been raised to three hours due to shortages in fuel and natural gas supplies to power plants.
During his show “al-Hekaya” (the story) on MBC Misr satellite channel, Adib noted that citizens were not informed of this decision in advance, and that it happened suddenly enough that some were trapped inside elevators with their families and children.
Despite the capabilities of power stations in Egypt to produce electrical energy exceeding what is required, the Electricity and Renewable Energy Ministry failed to maintain the announced timetable for load shedding, he said, which was not supposed to exceed two hours.
“Do our people not even deserve an apology? Is this the way to deal with patient people? Is the state managing the crisis correctly?” he questioned.
Adib calls for an apology
Adib called on the government to issue an official apology for this sudden and unexpected measure, especially since this comes in light of a severe heat wave that the country has been experiencing for two days which only further burdens citizens already suffering under the heat.
The crisis must be managed in an efficient manner, he said, with work to be done to find sustainable solutions to confront the challenges facing the energy and electricity sector in Egypt.
“No one from the Cabinet or the Ministries of Electricity and Petroleum wants to talk. They sent us the statement and entered the cave,” he added.
