PL and PN mayors blame Gozo blackout on poor infrastructure
As Gozo grows, investment in public infrastructure, including the power grid, has lagged behind
There is no plan to upgrade Gozo’s ageing infrastructure, especially with regards to the power supply, despite the increasing load brought about by unfettered property development on the island, a number of Gozo mayors have lamented.
Most of Gozo lost electricity on Monday evening and for most of Tuesday this week, leading to widespread frustration and condemnation by residents left to cope without electricity in the midst of a heatwave that saw temperatures soar to close to 38 degrees celcius.
It said the fire developed on one of the electricity cables, causing a supply disruption in Gozo. This fire then impacted another cable that provides electricity to Gozo.
While members of the Civil Protection Department worked to repair the damage, Enemalta had to switch off all the cables within the culvert that provides electricity to Gozo.
Qala PL mayor Paul Buttigieg told MaltaToday sister publication GozoToday that the load on the infrastructure in Gozo is increasing every day.
“No one enjoys the situation we had this week where we had no power for hours on end,” he said. “It is clear that something needs to be done to ensure our infrastructure can stand up the ever-increasing load.”
Buttigieg said that earlier this year the council had embarked on a project to upgrade all the infrastructure in the village main square.
That project cost around €900,000 and everything was changed, especially old cables and wiring that had not been upgraded in years.
“The cables were 50 and 60 years old and not made for today’s load,” Buttigieg said. “At least we found support from energy minister Miriam Dalli, whose ministry provided the new cabling, and the Gozo ministry, which provided the workforce and paid for the installation of the new cables.”
He said such projects cost a lot of money and the local council can not be expected to shoulder the expenses brought about mostly by over-development.
This was echoed by Kevin Cauchi, PN mayor of Ghajnsielem, who said that this week’s power cuts left many in the lurch.
He said that the ones to suffer most were elderly people and others who were suffering from certain health conditions.
“I know for certain that many people who, for example, had appointments for MRI scans on Tuesday, saw their appointment cancelled and now have to wait for another appointment,” Cauchi said. “Others with respiratory problems also had to seek urgent care at the hospital.”
He said that for the last couple of years the council had insisted on having a number of electricity sib-stations installed or upgraded. That resulted in the locality not suffering as many power outages as other localities in Gozo last year.
But this week proved that even that was not enough.
He said the fast rate of property developmemt in Gozo is leaving its mark on the infrastructure, and the problems are not solely limited to power supply.
“The same development is having an issue on waste drainage, and a quick visit to Xatt L-Ahmar is enough to see that urgent action is needed across the board,” he said.
Cauchi said that government needed to introduce regulation whereby development over a certain size contribute a sum or percentage towards upgrading and maintaining the electricity and drainage networks.
Developers should also be made to pay a smaller contribution to the local council, for the upkeep of roads and pavements, he said.
Cauchi insists such contributions would hardly make a dent in the profits developers make on large-scale projects.
“Even a 10-unit development will return the developer a minimum of €1.5 million in profit,” he said. “Surely, €50,000 or €100,000 could be used to upgrade and maintain our infrastructure and for the local council to have funds to keep its roads and pavements safe, at least?”
PL Ghasri mayor Daniel Attard said he, and the council, were very worried following this week’s power cuts.
“And like us, our residents our worried too because - with the temperatures already at a high as we enter the summer months - they do not expect to have to spend hours in abject misery,” he told GozoToday.
Attard said this is a major issue and a big problem for many, and that everyone expects the authorities to finally take some serious action.
When asked if he had contacted said authorities during or following the power cuts earlier this week, Attard was dismissive of the idea.
“It is of no use speaking to this minister or other, none of them can say they are doing something to effectively solve this problem.”
“The Nationalist Party is calling on Minister Miriam Dalli to be transparent with the Maltese people and to state not only the specific point where this incident occurred but also what caused this fire,” Opposition spokesperson Ryan Callus said.
“Fires do not start on their own but are a consequence of something.”
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