‘Fires do not start on their own’: PN wants Dalli to explain what led to Gozo power outage

Miriam Dalli has to explain what led to the electricity cable fire which led to the widespread power outage in Gozo on Tuesday, the Nationalist Party has said.

“The Nationalist Party is calling on Minister Miriam Dalli to be transparent with the Maltese people and to state not only the specific point where this incident occurred but also what caused this fire. Fires do not start on their own but are a consequence of something,” Opposition spokesperson Ryan Callus said.

In a statement on Tuesday night, Enemalta said a fire developed on one of the electricity cables, causing a supply disruption in Gozo. This fire then impacted another cable that provides electricity to Gozo.

Members of the Civil Protection Department were called on site to control the situation. Until then, Enemalta had to switch off all the cables within the culvert that provides electricity to Gozo.

Many in Gozo were frustrated by the power outage, as it took Enemalta hours to provide an explanation for the cut.

Callus said it is unacceptable that information on Enemalta’s operations is being “hidden from the public.”

“This week we saw how Enemalta was not reporting power cuts on its outage map, particularly when Gozo was in blackout. It is equally unacceptable that consumers are expected to accept a dry statement from Enemalta about what happened on Tuesday,” he said.

Should the information not be provided, the Opposition MP said it will consider further steps.