Water hampers cable repair works

Repair work to the Tal-Qroqq 33kV power cable that was damaged by a private contractor on Wednesday is still being carried out.

This is due to a quantity of water that has seeped into the cable, hampering Enemalta Corporation's repair effort, the state-owned energy company said in a statement yesterday.

The water that penetrated the cable came from a water main that was also damaged in the incident.

Other power cables that were damaged have been repaired.

Repairs are still ongoing, as all the water must be removed from the cable before further repairs can be made.

Enemalta expects to complete the repairs to the cable by this morning.

Due to these repairs, the electricity service was yestrday suspended in parts of St Julians, Swieqi, Gzira and nearby areas. Enemalta said steps were being taken to avoid suspending the supply in the localities that were affected yesterday.