Constant power cuts are eroding business and investment confidence during a crucial period of the tourism season, the Gozo Business Chamber said on Saturday. 

The association expressed concern at the state of the country’s energy infrastructure which has translated into constant power cuts. 

Across Gozo, the chamber said that some localities have been left without power for up to 16 hours, while others even experienced interruptions to the water supply. 

“Apart from the significant impact this is having on our communities, especially the more vulnerable, such a situation erodes business and investment confidence at such a crucial juncture of the busy tourism season,” they said.

“This situation is also affecting other sectors such as retail, catering, manufacturing, and the digital sectors, where the consistent power cuts have caused considerable damage, loss of customers, consumables, and working hours, and added costs to sustain the power supply in some cases.”

The chamber said that the situation calls for both urgent solutions but also “longer-term reflection” on the infrastructure needed to sustain population increases and the intensification of development. 

They called for a regional analysis of the current electricity infrastructure in Gozo that analyses vulnerabilities and criticalities of the grid and for that to be followed up by “concrete action”. 

“Such a situation is not consonant with the level of development both Malta and Gozo are seeking to achieve,” they said.