The Fiji Electricity Authority (FEA) revealed that the power blackout in various parts of Viti Levu on Sunday night was due to an underground cable fault.

In a statement released yesterday, Fiji Electricity Authority (FEA) acting chief executive officer, Eparama Tawake said: “There was a major fault on our 33,000volts underground cable that supplies power from the Cunningham Power Station to the Kinoya Power Station. This fault caused a partial Central region blackout, and it also triggered a Western region blackout.”

Mr Tawake added that FEA teams were called in to provide electricity using backup diesel.

“Power supplies to 80 per cent of the affected areas were restored within two hours. Power supply to the remaining areas was fully restored around midnight.”

Shabanam Singh,  of Nanuku Settlement in Vatuwaqa, said that one of the main challenges faced in the area during power blackouts was house break-ins.

“It is better when we receive warnings beforehand so we can prepare and the power blackout on Sunday was long but luckily nothing major happened,” Mrs Singh said.

Meanwhile, many took to social media venting their frustrations.

The FEA has apologised for the inconvenience caused during the power blackout.

Edited by: Filipe Naigulevu

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