Kurt Sansone
Engineers dismiss sabotage theory
Engineers are almost certain the explosion at the Marsa power station that plunged the country into darkness on Wednesday was caused by a fault and there was nothing sinister behind it.
Sabotage was strongly hinted at as the cause of the explosion by government officials shortly after the incident occurred.
However, engineers who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity were dismissive of the whole sabotage theory, insisting "it was possible" for switchgear technology to fail.
"It is next to impossible for somebody to sabotage the apparatus apart from the fact that it is very dangerous to even be in the room where it is situated," they said, insisting switchgears were operational 24 hours a day and prone to failure.
They also dismissed the coincidental connection made between the explosion and the television interview with Enemalta's chairman Alex Tranter the night before, insisting the corporation was constantly in the news and anyone wanting to make such a sinister link could do so every day.
Mr Tranter had said: "I understand press reports have observed that this is not the first time we had a power cut because of a fault at the Marsa power station while Enemalta was being discussed on television or in Parliament."
Last June, when the plant broke down twice on the same day, a similar coincidental connection was made with the fact that Enemalta's accounts were being discussed in Parliament.
Mr Tranter's comments were condemned by the General Workers' Union, which said he had implied sabotage by the employees. Enemalta later said Mr Tranter had not referred to anybody.
A magisterial inquiry and a police investigation are under way to discover the cause of the blast.
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lgalea
Nov 20th 2009, 21:14
A.Camilleri I was not comparing a welding set with a contact breaker, but simply trying to make a simple explanation so that non-technical people may understand that a small welding set can weld steel through arc welding let alone power at 33KV and the massive load that a circuit breaker would have supplying power to the distribution grid. I know a lot more than you think Camilleri.
A.Camilleri
Nov 20th 2009, 17:43
@Igalea Your comparing a welding set to a circuit breaker makes one believe that you have no electrical background - in that case kindly don't miseducate
Charles Zammit
Nov 20th 2009, 14:45
No doubt Enemalta Chairman owes the public and above all his workforce an apology. This siege mentality ought to be wiped out once and for all unless the aim is to create a police state.
lgalea
Nov 20th 2009, 12:26
Perhaps the co-incidental breakdowns are providential to alert the people to the incompetence with which the whole country is being run.
On a more serious note, what can anyone expect when you have switchgear etc running at 33,000 volts and thousands of amps working continuously without being serviced?
Imagine a small welding set with perhaps 50 volts and 100 amps with which you weld steel and then compare it with 33,000 volts and thousands of amps and you can imagine what might happen through lack of maintenance.
So much for the sabotage theory.
joseph saliba
Nov 20th 2009, 11:22
Mr Magri and company why don't you tell all the present administration to resign? Then we wil put the (M)LP into power. They will never resign no matter what. Are they not resigned(rassenjati) yet.
Mike Magri
Nov 20th 2009, 10:29
SABOTAGE.....!!!!!!!!!!!!! You see Mr. Tranter and the rest, what happens when you speek too soon and jump into `immaginative` conclusions..!!! ......TAQGHU GHAC-CAJT MAL-POPLU KOLLU.... Apart from creating an `alarm` for nothing..
Now ofcourse... One wonders what were the real motives behind such Hurried Suppositions, in such a very serious case.....!!!!!