Enemalta has welcomed a court ruling that held a third party contractor responsible for damaging an electricity cable and interrupting power supply during works unrelated to Enemalta business.

The corporation in a statement noted that a court recently ruled that the corporation was not at fault for an electricity outage in the Burmarrad in 2001 and ordered contractor Penza Construction Ltd to be held responsible for damages caused to Enemalta Corporation for damages to its electricity cable.

The incident happened on 4 December 2001 when the private contractor was undertaking works at Burmarrad Road, San Pawl il-Baħar. During the course of works, the contractor damaged electricity cables and as a result an electricity outage resulted in the area.

Enemalta said evidence exhibited during the court case showed how Penza Construction Ltd possessed plans which outlined the location of the cable. Furthermore Enemalta personnel were in the process of physically marking the location of the cable when the contractor opted to persist with the excavation works and damaged the cable.

In its judgement the court stated that a tight work schedule "is not in itself a plausible excuse since they could have resorted to other remedies as provided by law."

The court ordered the private contractor to pay damages of €16,270 to Enemalta.

"Damages to Enemalta cables by third parties are all too frequent and apart from the direct financial damage caused to the Corporation, the general public also suffers an inexcusable interruption of electricity," Enemalta said. "

This court decision clearly delivers a message that Enemalta Corporation is not necessarily the sole responsible party for electricity outages and other third parties may be responsible. This court sentence should warn contractors against negligent work that causes unacceptable inconvenience to our customers.