As the mercury rose to near-unbearable levels last week, the hot and bothered took to their air-conditioned or fan-ventilated rooms for comfort.
I will have to throw two refridgerators-full of food away
But for residents and business owners in Swatar, parts of Birkirkara and Msida, respite came in fits and starts as a series of lengthy power cuts left them sweaty, puzzled and, in some cases, out of pocket.
A series of cable faults meant large swathes of Malta and Gozo experienced power shortages over the past week. Enemalta has blamed faulty cables for the power outages and said it would be holding an internal investigation into the matter.
However, that was of little consolation to residents and shop owners in Pietà, Ta Xbiex, Swatar and parts of Msida and Birkirkara, which bore the brunt of the cuts.
“We haven’t had any power since 9.30 a.m. Four more hours and I’ll have to throw two refrigerators-full of food away,” a Chinese restaurant owner in Msida said yesterday.
Further afield in Swatar, the owner of a small mini-market was busy counting the damage the power cuts had caused.
A power surge had short-circuited one of his shop’s cigarette machines and the lack of electricity meant he had had to throw away tubs of ice cream, Jean-Paul Agius said.
“I’m worried the cuts could damage my fridges, so every time the electricity goes I’ve got to disconnect them. Two days ago, I came in at 2 a.m. to switch them on once power had returned.”
The first cut had caught Mr Agius unawares, rendering his shop’s barcode scanners useless and forcing him to close the outlet.
“I also bought a generator to keep frozen goods and dairy products from going bad. But when I turned it on at 6 a.m., the police arrived five minutes later to order me to switch it off because the noise was disturbing neighbours. You can’t win,” he sighed.
One shopper, Drusilla Muscat, overheard Mr Agius. “I was wondering why he didn’t have a generator. To be honest, I’m not buying any fridge items, just to play it safe.” Ms Muscat said that the frequent power cuts had driven her to exasperation. “My daughter suffers from frequent heat strokes and I’ve had to send her to her grandmother’s. If this goes on, I will have to consider moving elsewhere.”
Marylise Camilleri, 29, found a simple solution to cope with the extended outages: “I left the house. Staying in was unbearable,” she said.
Several Birkirkara residents were livid at Enemalta.
“Who’s going to assume responsibility? This country is a joke,” one elderly man exclaimed. “I almost slipped down the stairs last Friday night as I was walking down in pitch darkness.”
His neighbour was similarly irked. “One power cut is excusable but this is ridiculous. If I’m going to pay sky-high tariffs, the least I expect is a steady electricity stream.”
Both men described a “comical” scene on Saturday evening as an Enemalta technician drove around the neighbourhood in circles for half an hour trying to find the local substation.
One man broke into a grin. “He had no idea where it was. Can you believe it? If I order a pizza from a local pizzeria it’ll be delivered to my door. But Enemalta can’t find its own substation. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry.”