Apartment block residents in Tarxien have suffered thousands of euros worth of damage after a power surge fried appliances and equipment.
The surge on Thursday affected around 28 families living on Luqa Road, with refrigerators, air conditioning units, radios, chargers and adapters among the damaged items.
Marilou Mitrovic painfully made her way to the kitchen where a group of neighbours had gathered to vent their frustration.
The least they could do is replace our damaged equipment
The 35-year-old suffered a muscle spasm when she discovered the extent of the damage.Two television sets, a satellite receiver, two cable TV receivers, a printer, monitor, computer and a cordless telephone were all useless.
“It was a shock – within a matter of minutes I lost around €1,600 worth of equipment,” she told The Sunday Times of Malta, as her neighbours echoed her sentiment.
The power cut occurred on Thursday at around 4pm.
Ms Mitrovic was out with her two children when electricity returned at 9pm. Her Serbian husband, Bojan, who was at home, said: “The bulbs shone very brightly for five minutes then switched off again. A burning smell permeated the house.
“Even the light on our bathroom heater, which had been damaged before the surge, suddenly lit up, before dying again.”
On Friday, Ms Mitrovic and some of her neighbours made their way to Enemalta’s customer care department in Marsa to claim for damages.
They were told they needed to engage a warranted electronic engineer to draw up a report, verifying the damage and detailing whether the equipment was repairable or beyond repair. Each damaged item is listed on a separate form accompanied by a photograph.
However, what perturbed the residents was the clause stating that if the equipment is damaged and non-repairable, they must produce the original receipts detailing when it was first purchased.
If no receipts are produced, the value refunded will be equivalent to 25 per cent of the item or an equivalent being sold during the period.
“Twenty-five per cent is a ridiculous percentage. We don’t have our original receipts.
“We threw them away as soon as the guarantee period ended,” the residents complained.
“My equipment was old but it was in full working order. Now I’ve ended up with nothing,” one man said.
Mr Mitrovic added: “I would like my belongings to be replaced. I worked hard for my money.
“If my television doesn’t cost €1,000, I don’t expect that amount. But I do expect them to reimburse me with what I had paid.”
Many of the appliances and equipment of the residents were not insured.
She said she was also irritated with Enemalta’s procedure that residents have to pay for the technician ourselves before they are later reimbursed.
“There are pensioners living here – what if they can’t afford a technician? We pay our bills, we don’t get discounts. The least they could do is replace all our damaged equipment.”
Enemalta was unable to issue a response by the time of going to print.