Technopark firms fume over power cuts

Industrialists at Mosta Technopark were fuming yesterday after two power cuts severely affected production at the factories.

The first power cut lasted three hours till 9.15 a.m. but the power went off again at about 12.40 p.m. and was restored at 1.50 p.m.

The Technopark houses 17 companies employing about 600 workers mostly involved in the manufacture of electronic products.

Out of the 17 companies, two operate a shift system between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. while another also operates during the night.

Henry Borg, managing director of Sicons Opto Products and chairman of the Mosta Technopark Tenants' Association, said these power failures were causing firms to lose orders.

Foreign clients lose trust in Maltese industrialists' ability to meet the commitments they bound themselves to honour in work orders, he said.

"How can Maltese industrialists compete and maintain their competitive edge when they do not know whether their power supply will hold or not? This year we have had about five power interruptions.

"It is the industrialist who is in the front line of such failures and has to face the music. Yesterday, we lost four hours of production which also means that the companies still had to pay workers for the time they were idle.

"These are additional costs we did not budget for. When we phone Enemalta, we do not get any form of support at all.

"We are not informed how long the power cut will last. Industrialists are expected to be accountable for their actions and, therefore, we expect to have a support system by Enemalta that will keep us posted of the situation and not be told that 'we do not know where the fault is and when power will be restored'," Mr Borg said.

Asked whether a generator would solve the problem, Mr Borg said that such capital investment would push up costs unnecessarily with the possibility of squeezing the industrialist out of the market.

However, he said that while customers may accept a power failure or two, they start to have doubts when the power cuts become more frequent.

"Clients would be tempted to take their custom elsewhere when they come across such disruptions. How can we do commerce electronically and keep contact with our customers and suppliers when we have such hiccups in the electricity system?" Mr Borg asked.

Another operator at the Technopark who preferred not to be named said such power cuts were unacceptable.

He said industrial firms had failure penalty clauses in their contracts, and Enemalta should therefore be accountable and prepared for such eventualities.

"Enemalta does not seem to understand the frustration suffered by its clients and has never publicly apologised for such cuts. Unless Enemalta acknowledges that there is a problem, it will not be solved.

"How can an industrialist convince shareholders to come up with additional investment in Malta when such things happen on a regular basis?

"We work to extremely tight schedules and such interruptions force us to resort to overtime, which is an additional cost. What's the use of having government provide us with facilities to access customs clearance by email when we experience such energy gaps?" the industrialist asked.

Federation of Industry president Joe Zammit Tabona said such incidents harmed industry and pushed up costs unnecessarily.

"We hold meetings regularly with Enemalta which is doing its utmost to keep such cuts to the bare minimum which is about 11 hours per annum.

"Having said that, however, even half an hour without electricity means additional expense and Enemalta should consider compensating industrialists financially for such cuts," Mr Zammit Tabona said.

Enemalta chairman Robert Ghirlando said that when there is a power cut, Enemalta employees first have to locate the fault and therefore, it would be impossible for them to tell callers when power would be resumed.

"One can increase the reliability of the supply by installing more equipment but everything comes at a price," he said.

Asked whether Enemalta was prepared to consider compensating industrialists financially, Prof. Ghirlando said that in order to consider compensation, Enemalta would have to put the electricity rate up to cover this additional expense.