Egypt has continued to be plagued by power outages, however, even after the two ministers announced the success of recent trials of the use of fuel-oil additives--provided by the Petroleum Ministry--which are in accordance with specifications for use in power plants.
The power outages have affected the supply of drinking water to certain areas of the capital--such as New Cairo, Al-Oboor, Al-Nahda and the districts of Al-Salam--as well as parts of other governorates, all of which continue to suffer frequent water-service interruptions.
The combination of power outages and water cuts has taken its toll on poultry farms in the Northern Sinai Peninsula, damaged hospital equipment in Ismailia, led to the closure of workshops in Damietta, and resulted in massive losses for factories in Al-Mahalla al-Kubra.
Meanwhile, an official of the South Cairo Electricity Distribution Company alleged that the power distribution center in Cairo's Al-Haram district had a list of names and addresses of "VIPs" living in the area to ensure their power was not cut.
