Report on black-out still under wraps

An internal report delving into the cause of last month's country-wide electricity black-out resulting from an explosion at the Marsa power station will not be released until the magisterial and police inquiries are concluded.

Enemalta yesterday disclosed that the report had been finalised but did not give any details except to say that the explosion was not caused by lack of maintenance.

Initially the authorities had hinted at sabotage as a possible cause of the explosion which left the country in darkness.

When asked if sabotage had now been ruled out - as reported in It-Torċa on Sunday - a spokesman for Enemalta said: "It would not be prudent to make any comments prior to the conclusion of the inquiry by the magistrate and police."

However, this did not stop the spokesman from denying lack of maintenance as a possible cause, adding that the plant, including the switchgear which sparked the explosion, was regularly maintained.

A week after the incident, Enemalta had already ruled out lack of maintenance as a theory, after some of its employees anonymously said it was more likely than sabotage.