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3 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 19 JULY 2024 NEWS GozoToday is a weekly newspaper focused primarily on Gozo. It hopes to serve as a source of information on business, culture, entertainment and of course current affairs. Gozo has a special charm about it but it is also a bustling Island with an identity of its own. We will strive to bring you the news over the next three months. At this stage we are planning to take advantage of the influx of local and foreign visitors to this marvellous Mediterranean Island. But we could be tempted to continue with this newspaper project beyond the Summer months. GozoToday will be published every Friday and is available to numerous outlets in Gozo and on the ferries that carry so many visitors to Gozo from Malta and beyond. GozoToday MediaToday Co. Ltd Vjal ir-Rihan San Gwann SGN 9016 EDITOR: PAUL COCKS Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt GozoToday is published by MediaToday in collaboration with the Ministry for Gozo and Planning MINISTERU GĦAL GĦAWDEX U LIPPJANAR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 While members of the Civil Protection Department worked to repair the damage, Enemalta had to switch off all the cables within the culvert that provides electricity to Gozo. Qala PL mayor Paul Buttigieg told GozoToday that the load on the infrastructure in Gozo is in- creasing every day. "No one enjoys the situation we had this week where we had no power for hours on end," he said. "It is clear that something needs to be done to ensure our infrastructure can stand up the ever-increasing load." Buttigieg said that earlier this year the council had embarked on a project to upgrade all the infrastructure in the village main square. That project cost around €900,000 and everything was changed, especially old cables and wiring that had not been upgraded in years. "The cables were 50 and 60 years old and not made for to- day's load," Buttigieg said. "At least we found support from energy minister Miriam Dal- li, whose ministry provided the new cabling, and the Gozo min- istry, which provided the work- force and paid for the installa- tion of the new cables." He said such projects cost a lot of money and the local council can not be expected to shoul- der the expenses brought about mostly by over-development. This was echoed by Kevin Cauchi, PN mayor of Ghajn- sielem, who said that this week's power cuts left many in the lurch. He said that the ones to suffer most were elderly people and others who were suffering from certain health conditions. "I know for certain that many people who, for example, had appointments for MRI scans on Tuesday, saw their appoint- ment cancelled and now have to wait for another appointment," Cauchi said. "Others with res- piratory problems also had to seek urgent care at the hospital." He said that for the last couple of years the council had insist- ed on having a number of elec- tricity sib-stations installed or upgraded. That resulted in the locality not suffering as many power outages as other localities in Gozo last year. But this week proved that even that was not enough. He said the fast rate of property developmemt in Gozo is leaving its mark on the infrastructure, and the problems are not solely limited to power supply. "The same development is hav- ing an issue on waste drainage, and a quick visit to Xatt L-Ah- mar is enough to see that ur- gent action is needed across the board," he said. Cauchi said that government needed to introduce regulation whereby development over a certain size contribute a sum or percentage towards upgrading and maintaining the electricity and drainage networks. Developers should also be made to pay a smaller contribu- tion to the local council, for the upkeep of roads and pavements, he said. Cauchi insists such contribu- tions would hardly make a dent in the profits developers make on large-scale projects. "Even a 10-unit development will return the developer a min- imum of €1.5 million in prof- it," he said. "Surely, €50,000 or €100,000 could be used to upgrade and maintain our in- frastructure and for the local council to have funds to keep its roads and pavements safe, at least?" PL Ghasri mayor Daniel At- tard said he, and the council, were very worried following this week's power cuts. "And like us, our residents our worried too because - with the temperatures already at a high as we enter the summer months - they do not expect to have to spend hours in abject misery," he told GozoToday. Attard said this is a major is- sue and a big problem for many, and that everyone expects the authorities to finally take some serious action. When asked if he had contact- ed said authorities during or following the power cuts earlier this week, Attard was dismissive of the idea. "It is of no use speaking to this minister or other, none of them can say they are doing some- thing to effectively solve this problem." In a statement on Thursday, the Nationalist Party called on Miriam Dalli to explain what led to the electricity cable fire which led to the widespread power outage in Gozo on Tuesday. "The Nationalist Party is call- ing on Minister Miriam Dalli to be transparent with the Maltese people and to state not only the specific point where this inci- dent occurred but also what caused this fire," Opposition spokesperson Ryan Callus said. "Fires do not start on their own but are a consequence of some- thing." Mayor says developers should contribute to public infrastructure upkeep In a statement on Tuesday night, Enemalta said a fire developed on one of the electricity cables, causing a supply disruption in Gozo (Photo: Enemalta)