More than 10 days after Tropical Storm Ernesto made landfall, businesses are still experiencing problems with the power system.
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One is the Pueblo supermarket chain, which thanks to its emergency plans has been able to continue operating even though it is uncertain about the continuity of electrical service.
Last week, his store in Trujillo Alto Plaza lost power for several days.He knew New DayThe institution's clients pointed this out to this newspaper. The store is open during its regular business hours, but they noticed that the store was running intermittently on emergency generators due to the unstable service, which even affected the traffic light at the busy intersection leading to the shopping center on PR-181 Street.
Consuelo Abril, Pueblo's vice president of marketing and community relations, said she was unaware that the Trujillo Alto supermarket was without power. She noted that they only had one store powered by a generator last Friday, the 23rd, which was the Monte Mall shopping center in Hato Rey.
The executive pointed out that Last Wednesday, August 21, a cable failure occurred in the cables running from the road leading to the Monte Mall property, leaving the entire building without power..
“The repair work must be carried out between Luma Energy and the ‘owner’. Since Wednesday (last), the Pueblo supermarket has been running on a generator.Aprilis said.
But last Friday, Monte Mall Supermarket was forced to cease operations.
Hours later, Ebrels explained that the chain had to stop temporarily because the power plant needed maintenance.
“The oil had to be changed and serviced. The store was closed for two hours, two and a half hours, but it's reopened now.”
A Pueblo spokesman confirmed that all supermarkets have generators. Most of them have a surplus, meaning more than one generator and enough diesel.
As for how long Monte Mall will be without power, he said he doesn't know, but the situation is already being handled by Las Brisas Property Management, the mall's management company.
Last Friday, the Puerto Rico Industrialists Association (AIPR) called on Governor Pedro Pierluisi to declare a state of electrical emergency due to the ongoing power outages, a situation that affects the lives of citizens, but also harms business operations and, consequently, the local economy.
