Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1504427
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 26 JULY 2023 NEWS KARL AZZOPARDI A number of localities' wa- ter supply was interrupted on Tuesday after a boosting station in Naxxar stopped working, a Water Services Corporation spokesperson said. The Naxxar boosting station stopped working at around 8pm on Monday, around the same time a power outage was reported in the locality. The boosting station needs electricity, and without a steady supply cannot function as it should. Naxxar residents who spoke to this newspaper said they were left for more than 12 hours without an electricity supply. The Water Services Corpo- ration (WSC) spokesperson said the areas of Naxxar, San Ġwann, Għargħur, Naxxar, Iklin, Swieqi, Madliena and Mosta were all affected by the outage. The spokesperson said wa- ter supply has already been restored to a number of local- ities. Malta has entered into its ninth day of widespread pow- er outages across the country. An outage was also reported at Mater Dei Hospital in the early hours of Tuesday, after backup generators failed to kick in. An investigation is being car- ried out by the health author- ities. Power cut leaves thousands without water PM to meet unions and employers in urgent MCESD meeting Blackouts across Malta MATTHEW VELLA PRIME Minister Robert Abe- la has accepted the Chamber of Commerce call to convene an emergency meet- ing of national stakeholders in the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development. "I asked MCESD Chairman to convene a meeting of the social partners. The Government will be updating MCESD on the pres- ent climate challenges, energy and the ongoing and upcoming works to strengthen the electrici- ty distribution system," the Prime Minister tweeted. Earlier on Tuesday, the Cham- ber of Commerce asked national employers and workers' associ- ations and unions at the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development to set up a meet- ing with urgency to discuss the power cuts that have afflicted the Maltese islands. "This current state of play can- not persist and worst of all repeat itself – the right decisions and timely investment need to be tak- en 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 wor- ried about the current situation precipitated by nationwide pow- er outages that have been experi- enced continuously over the past days, leaving business and the general public in paralysis. "The Chamber showed its con- cern and worries on the way the country is being led. This goes beyond the power cuts being ex- perienced continuously. There is the urgent need to discuss the way crucial issues which effect the na- tion 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 Enemal- ta technical teams during exten- sive repairs to the electricity dis- tribution 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 Ene- malta said is being caused by the ongoing heatwave. "We have continued to allocate more resources to repair under- ground cable faults and regain the network's flexibility and resil- ience," Enemalta said in a state- ment. "With many of last week's faults repaired, on Monday night Enemalta could use the repaired cables to restore electricity sup- ply to customers impacted by new faults in a shorter time." In other areas, additional re- pairs to damaged cables are nec- essary 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 ar- eas, 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 substa- tions, new underground cables and the upgrading of existing in- stallations to augment capacity, flexibility and resilience of the national grid, and provide im- proved services to its customers in all localities. Enemalta chairman Inġ. Ry- an 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 in- vest 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 diffi- culties in their electricity services have been advised to contact Ene- malta by calling 8000 2224 or the Servizz.Gov Helpline 153. The company is using its SMS notifi- cation 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.