A frustrated resident of San Ġwann has described how he resorted to powering his appliances with a car battery during six days without electricity. 

Ray Cutajar, who lives on Triq Kunċizzjoni, said on Monday he had been without power since July 18 except for sporadic bursts of two hours or so. 

Power was restored on Monday night.

He says he has received little information about why his area is so badly hit by outages and for such a long period of time.

“I’ve been reaching out to the 153 landline, and at this rate, I don’t want sympathy, I want answers from these people," he said.

"I want them to explain to me the situation, why we have no power and what they are going to do about it. The public deserves to know."

The 68-year-old has been living in an apartment in San Ġwann, while their home is being renovated. 

“The irony is that my home has electricity, but since renovation works are taking place, we cannot move back there right now,” he said. 

In his desperation, the mechanic resorted to running their appliances on energy generated by car batteries. 

“I would carry these heavy batteries up to our apartment, but in the end, I stopped as it was too much work,” he said.

His main concern was for his wife, who has medical issues and was suffering in the sweltering heat. They were considering booking a hotel but then she travelled abroad on Saturday to see their daughter abroad.

Bags full of rotten food after countless hours of no electricity.

Cutajar has had to spend money on takeaways in order to eat and sleep is difficult as he cannot even have a cold shower to cool down, he says. 

“We need answers as to why we have no electricity and why it would come on for two hours and back off again. There is something clearly very wrong.”

'We don't want compensation, we want electricity'

Another San Ġwann resident, who asked to remain anonymous, has also been left without electricity for six days, leaving her more frustrated as time passes. 

"I never experienced this before, such a long time with no electricity is not only ridiculous but also cruel," she said.

"At this rate, we don't care about compensation, what we want is electricity and to be able to live in our homes."

The 26-year-old lives in Triq Il Furrajna, and she and her partner not only had to throw away food but have to spend money on takeaways to eat. 

"Not only did we have to throw away around €150 worth of food, but since we have an electric hob, we cannot cook any meals," she said.

She said that since Tuesday evening, her street has been left in darkness, apart from a couple of hours on Thursday and 15 minutes on Friday evening. 

"We were so excited when the electricity came back on, and then very sad and frustrated when it went out again," she recalled.

She and her partner take turns going to their parent's homes to sleep, but she explained that there has to be someone at home in the evening to take care of their kitten, Vincenzo. 

"He is so young and still getting used to the environment so we don't wish to move him around, but we can see that he is feeling very hot. I try to keep ice cubes next to him or place a cold cloth to keep him cool."

"In reality, we are lucky because we can go to our parent's homes for electricity. I feel bad for those elderly, for those people with newborns suffering in the heat."

Despite calling 153 numerous times, she said they have not informed her why the street has been left without electricity. 

"They tell me they do not know why, but how can you not know? We are still without any electricity, and we are left with more questions than answers," she said. 

Vincenzo feeling the heat.