Business was disrupted for farmers at the Ta’ Qali market yesterday morning after a series of power cuts.

One businessman, who was selling frozen ravioli and tortellini, estimated he had lost a quarter of his business after six power cuts lasting between five and 30 minutes.

“I had to empty the freezer, while the farmers next to me who were selling rabbit and fresh meat had to pack up and leave early,” he said.

The popular farmers’ market, which operates from Ta’ Qali on Tuesdays and Saturdays, was provided with its own power supply to facilitate the work of the 40 stall owners.

Market committee president Anna Zahra said trade was disrupted for 10 farmers whose business depended on refrigeration.

Initially, Ms Zahra suspected that the system had been overloaded because some of the stall owners were using fans to cool down.

However, when contacted, an Enemalta spokesman said that after inspections it transpired that the system was tripping because of problems with the market’s own circuit breaker.