Repairs on Mandaue line finished by April 15

REPAIRS on a transmission cable along Cortes and Plaridel streets in Mandaue City will be completed on April 15 this year, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said yesterday.

Ma. Rosette Martinez, NGCP regional corporate communications and public affairs officer, said the repairs were delayed by a few months since they had to import the cables and jointing kits from South Korea.

The original target was set earlier this year, she added. Martinez said the new target they set last Tuesday will also include road restoration.

Three contractors — Gowil Builders, Taihan Electric Wire Co., LTD and JLJ Construction — are working on the repairs.

“Gowil, which is Cebu-based, is working on the civil works, while the foreign companies Taihan and JLJ on the more delicate, electrical works,” Martinez said.

Both contractors will work on splicing the damaged Line 2 with the new cable.

Martinez said the imported materials are already in Cebu and the electrical repairs will be done within the week. “Our only problem now is the (unpredictable) weather,” she said.

NGCP’s 138-kilovolt (kV) transmission cable was damaged during excavation works done by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the area on October 20 last year.

NGCP’s Cebu-Mandaue Line 2 was accidentally hit by a backhoe of PLD Construction, and caused a sudden power trip, affecting customers of the Visayan Electric Co. (Veco), Mactan Electric Co. (Meco) and several industrial customers who had direct lines to NGCP, Martinez said.