A Saturday morning of chaos and anger at the San Benedetto market in Cagliari .
Due to a problem with the electricity system, the operators were unable, in the early hours of the morning, to raise the shutters of their shops, not to mention the other blocked systems as well as the risks for the cold rooms.
Hundreds of employees - furious, as were the customers - therefore had to interrupt the unloading and preparation of the goods, with the boxes of fruit and vegetables piled up on the sidewalks, waiting, after reporting to Enel, for the intervention of the technicians to the restore.
"We have the right to work", the outburst of the traders, who also blocked via Bacaredda in protest.
The police are also on site.
Around 8.30 the road was reopened and the interventions of the technicians were started, «but by now – the desolate comment of at least half a day's work has been thrown away».
The road was also blocked in via Cocco Ortu, where there were moments of tension between traders and motorists and where physical and verbal clashes also erupted, with the intervention of the police to calm spirits.
After hours of tension, at 9.10 the Enel technicians finally repaired the fault and the shutters of San Benedetto began to lift.
At 9.30 the citizens of Cagliari therefore crowded the fish, meat and vegetable stalls, in a tense climate: «Starting work at 9.30 on an important day like Saturday means losing half of the job» , underline the traders.
On the blackout, the Municipality let it be known: "Enel is responsible for the incident, also because two generators were promised precisely to avoid problems and inconvenience."
For its part, the company that manages the electricity grid, in a note, explains: «Regarding the electricity outage that occurred in the early morning at the San Benedetto market in Cagliari. E-Distribuzione, the Enel Group company that manages the low and medium voltage electricity grid, informs that the accidental fault on the cabin that feeds the market, reported at approximately 7.20 am, was repaired thanks to our technicians who promptly intervened albeit in difficult conditions considering the general situation and that from 9.05 the operators were able to work regularly ».
«We are sorry for what happened - continues the company - and we specify that the works scheduled for tonight on the same cabin, regularly announced through communications to the market and leaflets, will in any case be carried out when the market closes in order to make significant improvements to the quality of the service. Finally, it is clarified that the work carried out yesterday concerned another electrical substation for the preparatory work for the intervention scheduled for tonight and that therefore the Market was regularly powered up to the time of the breakdown".
(Unioneonline/lf)
Updates and contributions from Mauro Madeddu and Giuseppe Ungari: