Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker fired several officials from the ministry’s affiliated electricity companies following Thursday’s blackout crisis, which left Cairo and other cities without power for several hours.
The board of directors of Egyptian Electric Holding Company (EEHC), and CEOs for the North Cairo Electricity Distribution Company (NCEDC) and the South Delta Electricity Distribution Company were all replaced.
Also, the CEO of the Dakahlia Electric Company decided to dismiss the head of the North Dakahlia Electric Company from his position to a lower managerial one in order to “keep him away from dealing with the public,” Al-Shorouq reported Sunday.
Several reshufflings and promotions were also announced. Among them, former NCEDC CEO Mohamed Mostafa Rahim was promoted to the board of directors of the EEHC, replacing Medhat Ramadan Abu Taleb, who was the CEO of the NCDEC since 2011.
To contain public anger, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi addressed the nation Saturday, apologized to the nation for the blackout and called on their support to overcome the problem. Sisi spoke in detail about the needed budget to solve the electricity crisis.
Al-Masry Al-Youm published on the front page of its print edition a headline stating that Sisi spoke the truth to the people, praising him for admitting there was a problem and providing details.
The Electricity Ministry’s shakeup decision came following the speech. Kamal Waly, former vice president of the Electric Holding Company, told Al-Shorouq that there was a lack of proper skills training in the institution, which explains why the latest crisis was caused by a human mistake rather than a technical mistake.
Waly also criticized the fact that Egypt is more dependable on natural gas resources than nuclear energy. “Egypt depends on gas for 60 percent of its needs, whereas in developing countries that percentage should be allocated to nuclear energy,” he said.
The ministry is expected to deliver its final report on details of the recent crisis this week, after announcing earlier that the crisis was over and that power plants were working at full capacity.
