Kirkop residents affected by last weekend’s power cut will be assisted by the local council to claim compensation from Enemalta for any damages incurred, council mayor Mario Salerno said.
Mr Salerno said he received calls during the night from people demanding they be compensated for the inconvenience and damage to appliances and white goods, but it was Enemalta’s responsibility not the council’s.
Following complaints from “at least 10” irate individuals, he took it upon himself to ask affected residents to go along to the council on Thursday between 5 and 7 p.m. so that they could be guided on how to seek compensation from Malta’s sole energy supplier.
“I have faith something will happen,” he said, adding Enemalta had compensated people after similar incidents in the past.
“I don’t know whether councils of other affected localities will be taking similar initiatives. I’m only speaking on behalf of my residents,” Mr Salerno said when asked.
Kirkop, Safi, Żurrieq, Mqabba and Ħal Far residents had to suffer in the August heat, along with the contents of their fridges and freezers, after a fire broke out at an electricity distribution centre in Ħal Far on Saturday morning, disrupting the power supply to the localities for nearly two days.
Following the fire, Enemalta attempted to shift power onto different sources to restart the supply, which worked for a while, until the temporary solution failed, taking parts of Marsa’s power with it.
Some residents in the affected areas were left with no power between Saturday night and Sunday morning, while others woke up to find no electricity.
Kirkop and Safi residents had no power for nearly a solid day – between 7 p.m. on Saturday and 6 p.m. on Sunday – after Enemalta’s temporary solution failed.
Official statistics released earlier this year showed Enemalta paid consumers €65,092 for 151 compensation claims. It had received 258 claims but 107 were found to be unfounded as Enemalta was not to blame.
The figure paid in 2009 was almost double the €33,734 paid out a year earlier. The corporation paid nearly €44,000 in compensation in 2007 and €31,400 in 2006.
Last year, towns and villages across Malta and Gozo spent a total of 2,350 hours without power.