Friday, July 16, 2004 Samal in darkness due to damaged sub cable By Raquel C. Bagnol
DAVAO CITY -- Samal will be experiencing blackouts in the next few days after an anchor of a vessel plying the island city allegedly damaged the submarine cable of the firm supplying electricity to the area.
The submarine cable of Davao Norte Electric Cooperative (Daneco) located along Caliclic in the Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) was damaged Tuesday afternoon, immediately causing a total power blackout.
In Thursday's Samal power crisis management meeting, Mayor Roger Antalan said they are thinking of asking President Arroyo to declare Igacos under a state of emergency.
"It could be justifiable if we ask President Arroyo through Presidential Assistant Jesus Dureza to declare Igacos under a state of emergency because lives and properties are at stake," Antalan said.
Suspect
Engineer Felix Hibionada, Daneco deputy officer, explained they received reports that "m/v Moses" was reported to have allegedly dropped anchor near the area on Tuesday afternoon a few hours before leaving.
"It could be that the butterfly anchor hit the submarine cable and accidentally dragged it when the vessel left the area, destroying the cable in the process," Hibionada said.
He added the first thing they need to do is to look for divers who can identify the destroyed portion of the cable and tie it up with markers, then use a barge and a crane to lift up the cable so repairs could be done.
"This is not an easy thing to do because the cables weigh from five to 10 tons, and we have already called Manila for assistance to provide Daneco with facilities for repairing the cable," said Hibionada, adding that Manila assured them the facilities will be arriving in two days. Daneco will also be paying for all the expenses for the repairs.
Huge damage
He also said that replacing the damaged cable would require about 6.8 kilometers of 15BB submarine cable that would cost at least P200 million.
Daneco general manager Edgar Savellano, meanwhile, said generators could not yet be installed on the island because the number of consumers has to be considered.
"Igacos has only 3,000 plus electric consumers," Savellano said.
Vital establishments affected with the power blackout are City Hall, district hall of Babak, district hall of Kaputian, and Samal District Hospital.
Representatives from Smart and Globe, the city's giant telecommunications company, both gave assurance that their cellsites in the island will not be affected by the power blackout.
Also in Thursday's meeting, both the Philippine Ports Authority and the Coast Guard said they have yet to complete their checkups of vessels that docked in Sta. Ana and Sasa Wharf on Tuesday.
The Coast Guard is volunteering a batch of seven divers who are ready to identify the area and the damaged cable.
Noel Daquiaog, city information officer of Igacos, said a similar incident happened several years ago and it took Daneco more than two months to repair the damage to the cable.
Hibionada, however, said with the use of modern facilities, repairing the cable would only require a maximum of five days.
Chief Inspector Jose Carumba, Igacos chief of police, said the blackout will have an effect on the peace and order situation of the city.
"We will upgrade the level alert status from blue to red, and we will be imposing curfew especially in the poblacion," Carumba said.
He added though that they don't yet need an augmentation of their police force.
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