Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — Residents of the Palmas Turquesa subdivision in Playa del Carmen have finally had their power restored. Area residents say they were left in the dark nearly 40 hours while CFE repaired a line the company said was intentionally damaged.
Personnel from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) were able to make the reconnection after working nonstop for more than a day. According to one of the engineers in charge of repairs, the cause of the prolonged outage was intentional line damage.
He reported they traced the damage line to an area along the El Tintal highway where they found it had been cut in two separate places. They are treating the cuts as intentional vandalism. CFE personnel located the cut cable they said that triggered a chain reaction that affected the power supply throughout the area.
He said as part of the solution, the Palmas Turquesa subdivision is no longer served by the Víllas del Sol power line, but instead, a new connection was made to ensure greater stability and continuity of service. CFE personnel reported that they worked nonstop for 24 hours to resolve the problem, ultimately restoring power.
In a statement, Playa del Carmen Mayor Estefania Mercardo said “the CFE has restored power to Palmas Turquesas but what’s worrying is what we’ve been told: everything indicates that the outage was intentionally caused.
“This is not only serious, it’s unacceptable because playing with the peace of mind of our families is an attack on all of us. The municipal government will be vigilant in ensuring a thorough investigation and the punishment of those found responsible.”
Area residents blocked the Playa del Carmen-el Tintal highway during the prolonged outage in frustration with the lack of timely resolution and lack of communication during the repairs. The affected areas included Palmas II, Paseos de los Olivos and Real Bilbao, among others. The road block was finally lifted Saturday.
