Tension over clandestine connections in Valle Viejo

The town of Antapoca, in Valle Viejo, has seen the electricity service suffer for some time due to the numerous clandestine connections existing in this place, to the point of also affecting the normal functioning of the residents’ drinking water service.

Aware of the problem due to the complaints made by school directors in this place, due to the low tension in the establishment and in the homes of the users, operators from the Fraud sector of EC SAPEM went to the aforementioned town to cancel clandestine connections that affect the normal supply of energy.

The workers’ measure, intended to regularize the electricity supply, provoked the anger of the inhabitants, who saw how their homes were left without electricity.

In response, the neighbors blocked the streets to prevent the removal of the official vehicles, demanding the immediate reconnection of the service, to which the EC SAPEM operators had to agree, although they were summoned to regularize the situation.

The conflict escalated quickly and police intervention was necessary to ensure the safety of the workers and allow them to leave the site without major incidents.

In this sense, it is worth noting that the protesters threatened to set fire to the vehicles in which the workers were traveling if the disconnection proceeded.

Agreement principle

After deliberation with the neighbors, who argued that they had municipal authorization to proceed with irregular connections, it was agreed to grant a period of 24 hours for neighbors with clandestine connections to normalize their commercial and technical situation.

Without water

The drinking water service is directly affected by these irregularities, since the clandestine connections reduce the tension of the water pump that operates the only well that supplies the more than 60 families that live in this town.

According to the neighbors, this problem is not new and there are even clandestine connections with hoses that do not belong to the company Aguas de Catamarca SAPEM.

The school, also affected

Low tension due to numerous clandestine connections also affects the operation of school No. 30 in Antapoca. In radio statements, its director, Eloísa Bulacios, pointed out the inconveniences that the institution’s teachers must deal with on a daily basis.

In this sense, he highlighted that the main problem is the lack of drinking water and regarding tension, he commented that devices must be unplugged in order to operate the school oven.

According to the teacher, it is not only the illegal connections that affect the service, but also their lack of maintenance.

Illegality

According to neighbors, there are numerous clandestine energy connections, which increased with the proliferation of settlements in the area.