Updated 12.15am

A widespread power cut in Gozo on Tuesday evening left hundreds of people in the dark - literally and figuratively - with many complaining about a lack of communication from the authorities about the matter. 

Readers who contacted Times of Malta said that all of Gozo had been left without power for hours from 7.30 pm.

Enemalta's live power outage map did not show any current power cuts and the company made no public statement for a while. 

Around midnight, Enemalta said it started restoring electricity to Gozo after a fire on one of the cables supplying the island.

Burnt power cables. Enemalta photos.

"This fire impacted another cable that provides electricity to Gozo. Members of the Civil Protection Department were called on site to control the situation, during which Enemalta had to switch off all the cables within the culvert that provide electricity to Gozo as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all those involved."

No reason was given for the cause of the fire. 

Marsalforn pictured in almost complete darkness on Tuesday evening. Photo: Facebook

Earlier, residents from Mġarr, Għarb, Qala, Xagħra, Nadur, San Lawrenz, Victoria, Għajnsielem, and Marsalforn have said that they have been impacted by the service interruption to their electricity. 

Many expressed frustration that authorities have not kept clients up to speed with why the power outages are occurring and by when they can expect service to return to normal. 

Two readers also told Times of Malta that it was the second night in a row that their locality had experienced a power cut, but that the electricity supply had returned to normal before midnight on Monday evening. 

Nadur mayor Edward Said took to Facebook to vent about the lack of transparency, saying the worst part of the situation is that "no one even bothers to give you information, let alone an explanation," he said. 

San Lawrenz mayor Noel Formosa said he had heard from elderly residents who are suffering due to the power outage as well as businesses like restaurants who lament the loss of income such outages mean for them. 

"What a lack of foresight and planning, we should be ashamed!" Formosa said. 

"When I spoke to Enemalta they told me they did not know when things would go back to normal. Are we a third-world country?"

 One reader said many Gozitans are irritated by this lack of acknowledgement. 

"Gozitans are frustrated and on edge. There is no acknowledgement of the incident to be found anywhere and no accountability or communication to be seen from Enemalta or other outlets," they said. 

The PN's shadow minister for energy, Ryan Callus accused the government of trying to cover the widespread power cut as it was not showing on Enemalta's live power outage map. 

"Are we going to stoop to this level? Hiding information from the public? Is it not enough to provide a stable service to Maltese consumers?" he said. 

"What an incompetent government," he said.