Enemalta has been ordered to pay over €3,500 in damages to a pharmacy owner after his medicinal stocks were damaged in a power cut.

Mr Justice Anthony Ellul delivered the judgment after Enemalta appealed from the award to the Court of Appeal in its inferior jurisdiction.

The court heard that Henry Camenzuli, the owner of Tat-Tarġa Pharmacy, had lodged a claim with his insurers Gasan Mamo Insurance Ltd after a power outage in the night between July 19 and 20, 2013.

Mr Camenzuli claimed he had lost  €3,572 in medicinal products which had to be stored at a temperature of between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius when his fridge stopped working due to the power outage.

The insurance company reimbursed Mr Camenzuli for his loss and then filed proceedings against Enemalta for recovery.

Enemalta claimed that the power outage was caused by an exceptional situation over which it had no control. Consequently, it was not liable for damages.

But Mr Justice Ellul confirmed the award delivered by the arbitration tribunal and found that Enemalta was responsible for damages.

The court concurred with the arbitration tribunal's findings that the power outage had not been inevitable and unavoidable.

The outage had been caused when two underground cables burned out. Enemalta was obliged to provide a safe and efficient system of electricity but it did not provide a maintenance service for underground cables, merely replacing them when they were damaged. No preventive maintenance took place.

In conclusion, the court found in favour of Gasan Mamo and confirmed the arbitration award.