According to the publicly owned company EDM huge damages have been inflicted to their substation in that area.
The substation sustained severe damages, disabling the whole protection system against breakdowns, when a gang of unidentified individuals, who are still at large, stole several devices of electrical equipment, including 18 batteries, a machine for battery testing, and two air conditioners among other appliances.
Since the entire protection system has been completely vandalized, the Maquinino substation is unable to select the breakdowns, which will certainly be passed along to the main substation in Munhava.
According to EDM, should severe breakdowns occur in Maquinino substation, the entire network could crash, forcing a general power cut throwing its 600,000 inhabitants into complete darkness.
EDM's distribution director in Beira, Vaz Goba Calenco, who described the situation as extremely worrying, said that what happened amounts to a blatant act of sabotage, as the entire protection was amputated, rendering the whole system inoperational.
According to Calenco, the thieves also removed five spares of brand new circuit breakers and coverings of the electrical cabling, leaving them exposed to the elements.
"I believe that this is an action of sabotage, because those covers are useless even as scrape metal. What happened it is really sad, because this is an act of vandalism that will affect the economy of Beira, Sofala province, and of the country as a whole", said Calenco.
According to Saturday's issue of the daily paper "Diario de Mocambique" , this is the first time an act of vandalism of this magnitude has been reported in Beira in the last few years, at least judging by the damage inflicted.
This is the third substation that has fallen victim to the thieves in the current year. Two others that were also vandalized are located in the neighbourhood of Macuti and downtown of Beira. The town of Beira has five intermediate substations.
Calenco explained that a team of technicians is already assessing the damages to estimate the loss inflicted to the company, which are believed to be extremely high. Then, the equipment will be replaced, probably within the next two months.
"The replacement of the stolen equipment will take some time", warned Calenco, explaining that "it is a difficult task, because the level of damages is beyond our means, and this requires an intervention at a higher level".
He also explained that the total loss incurred by his company this year amounts to 210,000 USD by late July.
This is due to a number of sabotage acts that have been carried out by unscrupulous individuals involved in the theft of electrical cables, a situation that has been reaching alarming levels in the last few months.
SOURCE: AIM
