The Egypt cabinet has refuted rumours circulating on social media regarding the return of work-from-home Sundays for employees starting in August as part of the country’s power-saving plan.
In a statement on Tuesday, the cabinet clarified that a video featuring Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announcing work-from-home Sundays is from last year and will not be implemented this year.
These rumours are circulated in light of an ongoing load-shedding program initiated by the cabinet last summer as part of a government initiative to conserve energy.
This summer, a combination of successive heatwaves and natural gas supply shortages led to prolonged power cuts in the country, driving public uproar and criticism over the government’s performance.
In June, power cuts reached around three hours and even longer in some areas but have been significantly reduced this month amid intensive steps by the government to address the crisis.
Working online rumours
To alleviate the strain on the country’s electric grid last
year, Madbouly announced that government employees in non-public-facing entities will work from home every Sunday in August 2023.
The cabinet emphasized in today’s statement that the decision mentioned in the video about Sundays being online work-from-home days was applicable only to August last year and was not extended to 2024.
The statement urged citizens to rely on official sources for accurate information, advising them against being influenced by false news.
The government is encouraging citizens to report any rumours or false information they come across by contacting the cabinet’s media center via WhatsApp at (01155508688 – 01155508851) or through email at rumors@idsc.net.eg.
These channels are available 24/7 to receive reports from citizens.
Power-saving plan
Madbouly attributed the extended power cuts last June to a disruption in one of the natural gas stations in ‘a neighboring supply country’ connected to Egypt through a regional energy network.
Apologizing to citizens for the inconvenience
, the government has pledged to suspend power cuts during the summer months starting from the third week of July.
The government has allocated a $1.18 billion plan to import the necessary fuel to address the power supply issue.
This comes at a time when the country is diligently striving to attract new foreign investments and maximize its foreign currency revenues, following a period of financial strain over the past two years.
ing power crisis
The government aims to completely halt power cuts or reduce their duration in the last few months of 2024, said the premier.
Madbouly, prime minister since June 2018, is leading the country’s new government, which took office earlier this month.
Speaking before the House of Representatives after taking the oath, Madbouly has pledged that his new cabinet will spare no effort to end the power outage crisis within the first six months of its programme.
To conserve electricity, the Ministry of Local Development has announced the limitation of shop opening hours unti
l 10 pm on weekdays and 11 pm on weekends (Thursday and Friday), with opening times starting from 7 am.
Shopping malls, restaurants, cafes, and bazaars have been granted a broader opening window but continue to be subject to time restrictions, whereas supermarkets, bakeries, fruit and vegetable shops, and pharmacies are exempt from these limitations.
Since 2022, Egypt has implemented a nationwide energy consumption rationalising plan to save natural gas and redirect it towards exports to generate foreign currency.
Source: State Information Service Egypt