Malta has just undergone nearly two weeks of power outages affecting localities throughout the islands. This was coupled with a sweltering heatwave which gave us a record-equalling hottest July day in the country’s history, though it finally seems as if we have reached a stage of respite.

Many comments and statements have been made by the different political parties and entities with an interest in the situation, including some serious criticism from the Nationalist Party (PN) regarding how the government and the Ministry for Energy handled the situation, referring to it as a “national crisis”.

The PN also filed a no-confidence motion against Energy Minister Miriam Dalli on Wednesday and maintained that the minister bears the responsibility for the shortcomings that have resulted in the widespread power outages. The government dismissed this motion, as they had done to a motion requesting an urgent parliamentary meeting to discuss the energy crisis the previous week. The Labour Party (PL) said that the motion to dismiss Dalli is puerile and explained that the Energy Minister and the government are focused on delivering on their electoral promises for the energy sector. ADPD – The Green Party also made its own call for Dalli to resign, while also calling for the resignation of the Enemalta board.

The Malta Independent on Sunday reached out to a number of mayors to ask them about their experiences and thoughts regarding the wave of power outages, particularly in terms of how their own localities and residents may have been impacted.

Anne Marie Muscat Fenech Adami, the mayor of Naxxar, which was one of the regions most affected by the power cuts, said Naxxar has grown significantly, now having a population of around 18,000. She said that the infrastructure that they have had from years before is no longer adequate, with many transitioning from gas to electricity, while air-conditioning during the summer puts more pressure on the electrical distribution system. She added: “Buildings are being knocked down and replaced by apartments, which is leading to an overload.”

She said that there has to be a plan B and mentioned plans for Naxxar to have a new distribution centre which will hopefully prevent this situation from happening again. “Many Naxxar residents suffered because of what happened and local businesses had to discard items. My heart is with them.”

She said that her staff and herself had made attempts to contact Enemalta, but due to the “chaos” of the situation sometimes they too found it difficult to get through. Asked for her thoughts regarding what may be the cause of the outages, she replied: “I don't think the heat helps at all, but I think the situation is being caused more so by an overload on the system. The population of Naxxar has increased significantly, there's a lot of flats and businesses. That's why as I said it's urgent that this distribution hub is set up.” She concluded by saying that the government has to make sure that we are fully equipped to ensure that this situation does not happen again.

We also spoke with Kevin Cauchi, the mayor of Ghajnsielem, Gozo. He first explained that Ghajnsielem had not suffered any outages, and when asked about his thoughts regarding the cause of the nationwide errors, he said: “I think it's a combination of the heat along with the increase in population as well as tourism being at its peak during this time of the year.” He said that this population increase automatically results in a substantial increase in the load on the power system. “Large flats are being developed and everyone is making use of air-conditioning, so I think it's a combination of many factors coming together – the overload as well as the high temperatures. Obviously the investment did not keep up with all this and has led to the issues we're experiencing. If there are certain zones where substations need to be developed, then that needs to happen.”

He added that in his opinion, there needs to be a substantial investment increase in the distribution network. “I think if the necessary investments are made, as they have been done in Ghajnsielem over these past couple of years, then these issues can be avoided in other localities as well.”

The mayor of Zebbug, Mark Camilleri, said “the issue is nationwide”, recalling that a lot of areas in Zebbug had experienced significant disruptions in electricity. He said that he could not say exactly what may be causing the outages, but thinks that the abnormal heat affected the cables. “I've contacted Enemalta various times and they confirmed that they have been working on repairs in the locality. I think that Enemalta has the necessary expertise to determine what is needed to improve power distribution, it's not something I would speak on.”

Hamrun mayor, Christian Sammut commented that he keeps regular contact with his locality’s residents all the time including throughout the recent power outages, but said that it would be better to ask Enemalta about these issues, not him.

The mayor of Gharghur, Helen Gauci said that she does not believe these issues are solely being caused by the heatwave; overpopulation is surely adding to the burden and therefore too many people are using electricity at once. “I think it's overpopulation in general.”