There are probably few things in life which can make us go more frantic and enraged than having no electricity in summer.
In winter we might be annoyed, pissed off and grumble non-stop, but you can at least pile on layers of clothing, bring out more duvets and blankets and go to sleep in the fervent hope that it comes back on by morning.
But in summer, in a heatwave, you can go positively mental and berserk. Frazzled nerves because of the unbearable heat are compounded by not knowing what is happening, will it be restored within an hour, five hours, who knows?. As the hours tick by, and the fridge becomes warm and your freezer starts defrosting, a lot of food inevitably has to be thrown away (in fact, after last year’s blackouts I stopped buying too much food which needs to be stored in the freezer). The heat, of course, makes the situation 1000 times worse; you can try to leave the house for a while but at some point you have to go back home and our bodies have become so acclimatised to cool air that without air conditioning, it can feel like your skin is on fire.
The frustration of having no power, which is causing so much suffering, is exacerbated by the worry of appliances being zapped into a white goods graveyard by the fluctuating voltage, and having to be replaced at considerable cost. The financial loss by shops and businesses also has to be factored in, although I think the human aspect, especially among the elderly and the sick, is much more crucial.
In July of last year we were promised that this would be taken care of and yet, here we are, with the people who have been hit the hardest at their wit’s end and one area reporting a mind-boggling 37 hours with no power. Can you imagine? I think in their place, I would seriously need to murder someone. In fact, as some foreign residents pointed out, how come Facebook is replete with indignant posts and yet there aren’t protests in the streets at this unacceptable state of affairs? Are the Maltese that complacent? Most likely the real answer is …it is just too hot to work up that kind of energy needed for a physical protest.
I could make a list of all the official reasons being given as to why our distribution network is not up to scratch and why the promised investment was not made. But at this point I think no one wants to hear the excuses any more. The Energy Ministry has been a virtual merry-go-round of Ministers while Enemalta has gone through a whole list of top honchos. I find it rather useless for everyone to keep blaming their predecessors or, as some ridiculously insist on doing, blaming a PN Government which hasn’t been in power for over 10 years.
Read our lips: all we want is to know that when we flick a switch, we will find electricity. This can be applied to everything really: all we want is a country that functions properly. Now if that means finally admitting that this (frankly bonkers) economic model has put money into a lot of fat pockets at the expense of the rest of Malta’s population, then so be it. This administration needs to stop living in denial. Abela has to stop escaping reality by buzzing off on his boat, start acting like a statesman and acknowledge what we all know to be true: that our entire infrastructure is hanging on by a thread and it just cannot cope any more.
- July 22, 2024 No comments Posted in: Hot Topics Tags: no power