Ravenna residents worry over uncovered electricity cables
Revenna complex residents in North Riding say that the City Power contractor's temporary fix to and electricity problem is endangering their lives.
After five days without power, frustrated North Riding residents were left with ‘live wires openly exposed’ in a hole dug by City Power after a temporary fix to a cable fault.
The residents of the Ravenna complex complained that it had taken the municipality several hours to do the temporary fix.
Randall Sewpershad said, “We are fed up with the lack of action and have taken it upon ourselves to remedy the situation. The contractors said they will not cover the hole because they are doing a temporary fix. They do not have all the resources to fix cables permanently.”
But City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena warned that health and safety regulations dictate that residents are not allowed to work on City Power sites or operate on the City Power network.
“A temporary solution is offered to the customer when the team locates multiple cable faults. To resolve a multiple cable fault, specialised materials and more resources are required on site. When they are unavailable, the team offers customers a temporary solution to restore the power supply. A detailed note is added to the system indicating the missing resources to complete repairs. Once they are available, the team revisit the site for a permanent fix.”
He said however that this did not pose a danger to residents. “The decision to do a temporary fix is the last resort after we realise that we have no other option, except keeping the customer in the dark. It’s either the temporary fix or the customer remains in the dark until a permanent solution is found,” said Mangena.
“We ensure though that the design of our solutions is safe, clean, and does not pose a risk to residents. The cables have a protective layer that will not electrocute anyone touching the cable. The cable only poses a risk to someone who tampers with the line and cuts it open. Should it rain, the team has built the structure so that water does not damage the cables or disrupt the power supply.”
Mangena said that City Power contractors were trained in health and safety regulations and urged community members not to interfere with their work.
“They understand the importance of using barricades on site to make it visible to everyone that construction work is underway. This way, residents will know not to tamper with the job being done.”
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