Malta blackouts: Robert Abela to hear unions and employers in urgent MCESD meeting

Prime Minister Robert Abela will attend an emergency meeting of national stakeholders in the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development called by the Chamber of Commerce.

“I asked MCESD Chairman to convene a meeting of the social partners. The Government will be updating MCESD on the present climate challenges, energy and the ongoing and upcoming works to strengthen the electricity distribution system,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

The Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday asked national employers and workers’ associations and unions at the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development to set up a meeting with urgency to discuss the power cuts that have afflicted the Maltese islands.

“This current state of play cannot persist and worst of all repeat itself – the right decisions and timely investment need to be taken now.  This country needs to have a long term economic and social vision that goes beyond the political spectrum,” the Chamber said.

The Chamber said it was worried about the current situation precipitated by nationwide power outages that have been experienced continuously over the past days, leaving business and the general public in paralysis.

“The Chamber showed its concern and worries on the way the country is being led. This goes beyond the power cuts being experienced continuously. There is the urgent need to discuss the way crucial issues which effect the nation as a whole are being handled. This can only be achieved through a responsible dialogue with all social partners collectively. The business community is calling upon the government to act now before it is too late,” the Chamber said in a statement.

13 underground cable faults have been identified by Enemalta technical teams during extensive repairs to the electricity distribution network as blackouts plagued the Maltese islands.

On Monday night, Naxxar, Mosta and Ħandaq went dark as another 13 underground cable faults were registered. It was the second week of power cuts and network difficulties which Enemalta said is being caused by the ongoing heatwave.

“We have continued to allocate more resources to repair underground cable faults and regain the network’s flexibility and resilience,” Enemalta said in a statement. “With many of last week’s faults repaired, on Monday night Enemalta could use the repaired cables to restore electricity supply to customers impacted by new faults in a shorter time.”

In other areas, additional repairs to damaged cables are necessary before customers can be reconnected to the grid.

Other Enemalta technical teams are helping customers reporting localised faults in their individual service connection or in small areas, such as part of a street.

Enemalta said on Monday that last year it launched a €90 million investment to reinforce Malta’s electricity distribution system, which comes with an additional €70 million in EU funds, secured through the REPowerEU plan.

The investment includes new distribution centres, new substations, new underground cables and the upgrading of existing installations to augment capacity, flexibility and resilience of the national grid, and provide improved services to its customers in all localities.

Enemalta chairman Inġ. Ryan Fava thanked all employees involved in the different teams focusing on the current network difficulties. “Over the past year we accelerated our investment in the distribution network, as we also implement plans to invest further and consolidate our human resources, to increase the technical resources required to provide assistance to customers with difficulties in their service in the shortest time possible.”

Customers experiencing difficulties in their electricity services have been advised to contact Enemalta by calling 8000 2224 or the Servizz.Gov Helpline 153. The company is using its SMS notification service to keep subscribed customers updated on faults and repairs affecting their electricity supply. The public can subscribe to this service by sending an SMS with the account holder’s ID Card number, on 79052492. Live updates are also available on the Enemalta website.