Businesses in parts of Old Bakery Street and South Street in Valletta were forced to close today due to a power cut caused by a burnt transformer.

Buildings in the area were without power from around 10 p.m. last night due to the 11 kv fault.

Enemalta issued a statement this morning saying the installation and testing of a new transformer would be a lengthy process.

Power was eventually restored at around 2.15 pm, according to an Enemalta customer care representative.

Guy Galea, who owns a hair salon on Old Bakery Street, said he had been forced to cancel appointments. By 1.30 pm he had cut the hair of only two people on what is normally his busiest day of the week.

Si Mangia cafe in South Street is one of the several businesses that closed its doors. The managing chef Charles Grech called it “a disgrace”.     

Mr Grech was forced to hire a generator at 6.30 a.m. this morning to keep his fridges and freezers running.

In a statement this afternoon, the GRTU – Malta Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises said the business community in various localities is suffering a series of power outages practically every day, some for a few hours, others for days.

Reports of power outages in Valletta started in June the GRTU said, sometimes leaving business owners with no option but to close their shops and restaurants and send their employees home.

“Using the period of high temperatures as an excuse is simply not acceptable. It’s a question of professional management,” the GRTU said.  

Enemalta’s estimations of how long faults will take to fix are often misleading, the Chamber added.

It is confident that under the new Collective Redress law, the issue of compensation will now be addressed by the Courts.

“Business cannot continue to suffer losses due to the incompetence of others.”