PPC fails to appease Aegina
Electricity was restored to Aegina yesterday, four days after repeated blackouts on the Saronic Gulf island began, but local residents and businesses seemed determined to go ahead with legal action against the Public Power Corporation (PPC) for leaving them without power. In a statement, PPC said that one of the two underwater cables that had been damaged, thereby causing the outages, was repaired and electricity was again available in all parts of the island. The firm did not say when the other cable would be fixed but added that 12 large emergency generators that had been shipped to the island on Monday would remain in place. The power company also said that it would be leaving seven other generators, which have been supplying electricity to the pumps that help circulate water around the island, in place. Many residents were left without running water this week. PPC said it would also be launching a tender for the installation of a fourth underwater cable to transmit electricity from the mainland to Aegina so the island is not left without ample power again. Despite power being restored yesterday, locals appeared determined to take legal action against PPC for failing to supply the island with electricity since Sunday. The head of the local tourism development committee, Michalis Papadopoulos, told Skai radio that a number of businesses had suffered losses as a result of the outages. «Many of the perishable products had to be thrown away because they could not be kept in refrigerators,» hotel owner Pavlos Lazarou told Kathimerini. «A lot of tourists left the island and others canceled their bookings. Without air-conditioning, the situation was unbearable.» Aegina Mayor Panayiotis Koukoulis, who some residents see as sharing in the blame for the power cuts due to a failure to find a permanent solution to the island’s electricity problem, said that the municipality would back any individuals launching legal action against PPC.
