Sharjah residents affected by the recent power failures have received an apology by the emirate's Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) which vowed to take steps to improve its services, Gulf News has reported. The power failure was caused by a problem in the natural gas pipeline which feeds the main power station, Sewa said in a statement. The authority said it was forced to deal with the emergency by cutting off the power for hours in some districts. Thousands in densely populated parts of Sharjah, especially the industrial areas, suffered for days without power last week.