Contractor killed the radio stars
All radio stations, except those run by the state broadcaster PBS which are backed by a generator, went off the air twice yesterday.
While Enemalta attributed the first cut in the morning to damage to a power cable by a contractor, it gave no explanation for the evening cut.
Motorists had to give up their favourite drive-time radio shows as they headed to work yesterday when a damaged electricity cable put most of them off the air for an hour.
The damage was caused at about 7 a.m. by a private contractor who was carrying out works in Għargħur and damaged a 11 kilowatt electricity cable that feeds the Għargħur transmission antenna, Enemalta said. The fault in the cable also interrupted the electricity supply to parts of Lija and Naxxar.
Immediate measures were taken to feed the affected areas through an alternative supply and excavation works to repair the damaged underground cable were initiated immediately, Enemalta said.
Priority was given to the electricity service on the Għargħur transmission station and electricity was restored by 8.04 a.m. Għargħur and Naxxar residents had their electricity service restored by 8.42 a.m. and Lija residents by 10.30 a.m.
Enemalta said it was reviewing its legal position and was considering initiating legal proceedings against the contractor for damages suffered.
At about 6.30 p.m., several radio stations went off the air again. Enemalta was not aware of any power cut but spokesmen from the radio stations believed the fault was caused by a power cut as they could not think of any other explanation. Transmissions returned to normal at about 7.10 p.m.
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lgalea
Jul 22nd 2009, 21:55
I've heard that today Mosta had two power cuts, one in the morning lasting some 3 hours and another one lasting some 1 and a half hours.
Kurt Mifsud
Jul 22nd 2009, 13:09
@mario gellel
Whole day without power or... lately there have been power surges that were so powerful that even the TV and the neon lights went out and then a sudden power spike. Electronics and appliances have been damaged in households and I know that by fact
john fenech
Jul 22nd 2009, 12:18
The power distribution to Lija Naxxar and Gharghur is from the Mosta 132Kv Centre through Protection and Substation Control Systems. Therefore, it is rather strange that the fault at Gharghur also affected Naxxar & Lija , since each locality has its independent protected supply system. In addition, the second outage is even more bizarre!
mario gellel
Jul 22nd 2009, 12:11
EneMalta is sueing the contractor for the damage. Very nice.
How about Malta sueing EneMalta for the damage done when we were left a whole day without power??? Fair and even,or not !!!
Ramon Casha
Jul 22nd 2009, 11:03
What is it with Enemalta and things that break down twice in quick succession?
N.Calleja
Jul 22nd 2009, 10:44
Anything is news in Malta. Just because radio stations went off air for a few minutes because of a slight mishap, all this hubbub!! How naive can we be!!
Galea. L
Jul 22nd 2009, 10:44
"11 kilowatt electricity cable"
It should be 11 kilovolt not kilowatt.
This highlights the danger of having all the radio stations in one place, using one tower and one antenna where if an accident or a major disaster had to happen which puts out the radio stations the authorities would have no means of communicating with the population.
Distribute the stations around Malta and impose a condition that they must have a stand-by generator.