Running water was scarce, electricity intermittent, privacy nonexistent and mud everywhere.

There is intermittent electricity to the town.

It was the same in the mid-1990s, with a primitive airport, dirt roads, no computers, intermittent electricity, and a grand hotel whose seedy rattan interior was decorated with out-of-focus tourist posters.

One day it could be a key piece of equipment at rural health clinics, where doctors depend on intermittent electricity or none at all.

By 29 January, the electricity situation has returned to its pre-27 December status, with much of the Gaza strip receiving only intermittent electricity.

This is the Iron Triangle, a desolate, 13-block peninsula where a gritty collection of small businesses eke out a living with intermittent electricity, unpaved roads and long-broken sewer mains.

There was only intermittent electricity today, little running water and a sense of concern about the future.

In the meantime, the pathetic trickle of intermittent electricity from wind farms cannot be relied upon to power Europe's industries.

They had intermittent electricity and meagre insulation.

Before the ferry, Marado had mostly dirt roads, intermittent electricity and no link to the outside except the islanders' own small boats.