Underground cables hit during road works in Mellieha
Enemalta employees have been deployed twice to carry repairs following two incidents in the past 24 hours during which the private contractor currently working on the Mellieħa road works hit an underground cable, parts of which were exposed, in view of the current road works.
The first incident occurred yesterday afternoon at 3.43 p.m. when the contractor working in Mellieha, hit an underground 11kV Enemalta cable, suspending supply in parts of Mellieha.
Enemalta employees were immediately deployed to identify and repair the damage and power to most areas was restored by 5.27 p.m., with the last substation being reenergised at 1.59 a.m.
The second incident took place, at 8.32 a.m. today, when the same private contractor hit another underground cable suspending supply to other parts of Mellieha. The damage was immediately attended to by Enemalta employees and power was restored by 9.12 a.m.
These incidents bring the tally of such incidents this year to 26 (compared to 18 over the same period last year).
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41 Comments
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Jay Oatmon
Aug 25th 2012, 08:52
And the answer is: -
1. Enemalta procures the equipment to locate the underground cables from the surface.
2. Enemalta surveys all main cables with high accuracy GPS and inputs all the data into a computer database (backed up).
3. Enemalta surveys all other cables with high accuracy GPS and inputs all the data into a computer database (backed up).
4. The data base is made accessible to contractors (for the are where the need to work), for a modest fee (to pay its way).
5. Parliament implements a suitable new law to cover cable damages.
6. For any contractor damage to cables (which are correctly indicated in the data base) the contractor must pay for all repairs and damages of say 500 euros.
Alfie Lewis
Aug 24th 2012, 20:01
M r. Saliba NO I WILL DON't go are check on damaged cables there are personel that are getting paid to this.
Alfie Lewis
Aug 24th 2012, 19:47
Mr Saliba of what you said i definitely don't agree . I HAVEN'T HEAR OF A CASE WHERE THE CONTRACTOR IS TAKEN TO COURT I AND IF , ITS ONLY FOR pittance what about the damage caused to all my electrical appliances .ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR THEM? THE WAY THINGS ARE GOING AS YOU SAY THE INSURANCE ARE BOUND TO GO BANKRUPT
joseph grech
Aug 24th 2012, 19:25
THE CONTRACTORS DON't CARE EVEN THOU THE PLACE OF THE CABLES IS ALWAYS MARKED ,THEY SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND NOT WITH WISHY WASHY PENALTIES .
Toni Borg
Aug 24th 2012, 19:21
And the contractors continue to go scot free!!!
Anthony Grech
Aug 24th 2012, 19:03
Today the Maltese Islands together with the highest personalities, President, Prime Minister and all are in official National 2 days mourning for en ex Prime Minister. BUT Enemalta Gozo 'Palace' Head Office DID NOT HOIST THEIR FLAGS AT HALF MAST... why? Were they too busy joining cables?
Alfie Lewis
Aug 24th 2012, 19:27
I TELL WHY BECAUSE ENEMALTA IS RUN BY I INCOMPETENT AND USELESS MANAGEMENT BUT THEY ARE CASHING IN THOUSANDS IF NOT MILLIONS INTO THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS AND WE ARE PAYING FOR ALL OF THIS. AND THAT WHY/
Alfie Lewis
Aug 24th 2012, 18:16
No wonder our utility bills are so HIGH the Enemalta employees must be all laughing all the way to their banks with the their overtime due to the i ncompetence of the main contractor
. GOOD FOR THEM BUT TOO BAD but too much bad for me
R. Saliba
Aug 24th 2012, 19:06
For your information, whenever a contractor damages 3rd party property, a police report is filed and court proceedings are taken against the contractor. If the contractor is found liable to the damage, his insurance pays for any related costs. Now, can you tell us in what way are our utility bills affected by this?
william cauchi
Aug 24th 2012, 16:49
I can assure you that most of these problems are due to the fact that site plans for these cables are completely wrong or missing.
From personal experience some years ago, my contractor was given the go-ahead to dig a trench as there were utilities passing. Within 10 minutes the whole town was without service and the machine operator was lucky to be alive because his machine bit melted on contact with the high tension cable. Site plans? What plans?
Alfie Lewis
Aug 24th 2012, 16:35
Before we had poor old boiler No9 than the cables because of hot weather and heavy trucks now its the turn of the contractors I REALLY LIKE WHERE THEY GET ALL THESE FABRICTIONS FROM?
R. Saliba
Aug 24th 2012, 19:02
why don't you go on site and see if it is true that the cables were damaged?
Alfie Lewis
Aug 24th 2012, 16:29
And here we go again TaXbiex yet again with no electricity from 1330hrs till 1610 If the contractor in Mellieha is incapable to work without hitting more cables than get rid of him ASAP. And what has Mellieha to do with Ta Xbiex WE'RE MILES APART
Victor Rodenas
Aug 24th 2012, 14:59
Is that a World record?I think we qualify for a medal.
mark johnson
Aug 24th 2012, 16:23
Yeah, we bury the medal and the first contractor to dig it up wins it.
Mr Tony Gatt
Aug 24th 2012, 14:53
I remember once a new water pipe was being installed from the street to my property. It was put about 5 cm. below ground and covered with sand!
I expect these cables are'nt much deeper.
Bernard Farrugia
Aug 24th 2012, 16:40
High voltage cables in Malta are 90cm - 120cm deep.
R. Saliba
Aug 24th 2012, 19:07
Some parts of the mellieha bypass are being dug up to 10 mtrs deep.
Pierre Cauchi
Aug 24th 2012, 14:51
Two comments to the above:
1. Are contractors not provided with maps showing where cable and pipes are laid?
2. Considering that this is a new area, why are not cables and any other service not laid in concrete channels covered with slabs for the eventual upgrade addition of any other service.
These constant incidents prove costly both to the corporations involved and to the ordinary citizen,
Why no progress in this sector??
paul camilleri
Aug 24th 2012, 16:11
dont you know that by trenching and concrete channels and cover with slabs is not cost efficient also it takes them ages for them just to dig up a shallow trench and just cover it, i hate to imagine how long such extensive work would take to complete.
maybe by the year 3000 we might be able to begin a process like this while the rest of the world would be using a more advanced source of energy like "FLUBBER"
John J Borg
Aug 24th 2012, 16:26
maps!!!! plans!!!! i witnessed from my car while driving in xewkija.....they were drilling for an electricity pole.....and instead they found the water main......these are the same workers that buried the pipes, did the pavement, and now drilling the poles!!!!
Charles Micallef
Aug 24th 2012, 14:46
Oh no, not another contractor hot yet another underground cable and inconvinienced the consumer, this cannot be true.....!
vincent Lia
Aug 24th 2012, 14:42
Terrible neglect for safety and property of other people. It is not that difficult to know where live electrical cables are first of all Enemalta can provide information and secondly inexpensive instrument can tell is there is electro magnetic waves. Why is it that they invariably hit electrical cables rather then water pipes. It is God send that we do not have any piped gas.
N. Agius
Aug 24th 2012, 14:42
Il qtugh tad dawl jonqos....L- impatt fuq zoni turistici bhall dawn zgur mhux qed jaghmlu tajjeb. Id dewmien ezagerat fit triq tac cirkewwa u anke fin nizla ghall Ghadira hu gej mill fatt li l kuntratturi qed jahdmu bl inqas nies possibli. Nghaddi kontinwament minn hemm u qatt ma nara iktar minn ghaxra minn nies fuq il land tax xoghol. Nofshom ikunu bil qieghda.. Allura kif tridna qatt inlestu?? Jekk taghmel xi maltempta mill kbar f settembru hemm xi hadd ghandu idea x jingabar hdejn is seabank hotel??
D Vella
Aug 24th 2012, 14:38
One wonders whether this contractor was either silly enough not to obtain the relevant information from Enemalta regarding the location of the cables or whether he ignored that information OR as has been known to be the case, the information was not accurate!!!
vincent Lia
Aug 24th 2012, 20:58
Mr D Vella all that is required is a small instrument that can detect electric currents as they leave an electro magnetic waves around them. Very simple and very cheap just scan the ground where the digging is going to take place. It can save a persons life and hundreds of thousands of euros in damages. How comes no one is being electrocuted someone hacked through cables at Bormla not long ago and miraculously nothing happened to him.
Jay Oatmon
Aug 24th 2012, 14:37
We suffer because of decades of doing cable burying on the cheap, with no concrete ducting to lay the cables in with slab lids marked "ELECTRICITY". Out of sight out of mind!
John Scerri
Aug 24th 2012, 14:16
Is it possible that in this day and age there is no instrument to detect hidden electric current like those little gadgets one can buy for ones house to protect against electric shock when perforating walls?
Patrick Zammit
Aug 24th 2012, 14:03
What happened to those hand held sensors that detect underground cable? Is there no effective collaboration between Enemalta and TM?
Peter Murray
Aug 24th 2012, 13:55
doesnt Enemalta possess a cable legend to onpass to contractors -to thereby enable them to be aware of their location before commencing digging?
Charles Micallef
Aug 24th 2012, 17:04
Enemalta always gives a cable legend to the contractors, pity it is never accurate.....I have witness this with my own eyes!
Peter Murray
Aug 24th 2012, 18:12
Then why does Enemalta always take the contractor to court to claim for damages when this happens?
Charles Micallef
Aug 24th 2012, 19:14
Contractors who can prove that they were digging on the site according to the cable legend are not prosecuted. some of the cable legends they have, especially the ones 20 yrs plus are erroneous....!
B. Storace
Aug 24th 2012, 13:42
Hopefully the contractor whose name incidentally is plastered on every truck and "inconvenience" vehicle, will be made to foot the bill and all the frills.
Lawrence Fenech
Aug 24th 2012, 13:42
How's that for a novelty.
fred sammut
Aug 24th 2012, 13:28
ma kienx hemm inciedent fatali wiehed diga hemmhekk.....
mela kulhadd jhaffer fejn ifettilu???
Mr Michael Debono
Aug 24th 2012, 17:52
Ibdew jaghtu kaz meta ikun hemm xi incident ta mewt biex jicaqalqu.
Mario Tabone-Vassallo
Aug 24th 2012, 13:26
Nittama li jaghmel tajjeb il-kuntrattur ghall-hsara u ghad-danni li batew il-konsumaturi
Franco Farrugia
Aug 24th 2012, 13:21
And now what penalties are levelled at this 'same private contractor'?
Jonathan Camilleri
Aug 24th 2012, 13:19
That is why there was slow moving traffic while driving through Birkirkara-Mosta-Burmarrad-Mellieha, and, returning to Gzira yesterday.
E. De Marco
Aug 24th 2012, 13:19
SAME private contractor hit the cables twice. So we have to just wait until he hits the third cable....!
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