One Country Lights Off, Chaos Hit Ecuador

UNSPLASH/Claudio Schwarz ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Ecuador was hit by a nationwide power outage aka one country for hours on Wednesday, June 19, which left 17 million people in the South American country in the dark at night.

The power outages that impact major hospitals, homes and subway systems are caused by maintenance and transmission problems in the country's electrical system, authorities said.

The procurement we experienced today was caused by a lack of investment in maintenance, new electrical transmission, and protection of electricity transmission infrastructure, Public Infrastructure Minister Roberto Luque reported by CNN, Thursday, June 20.

As of Wednesday evening, electricity had recovered in 95 percent of the country's territory, according to the government.

Ecuador has been battling energy carisis for years. Most recently, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared an energy emergency in April and ordered an eight-hour nationwide power outage amid a drought that had an impact on power plants.

In the capital Quito, the CNN team saw two hospitals, including a children's health center, losing power supply during power outages. Both hospitals can rely on electricity from their generators as soon as power outages begin.

In the country's largest city, Guayaquil, blackouts also had an impact on two other hospitals.

"Electricity is out but we have our own (generator)," said a doctor from Luis Vernaza hospital in Guayaquil.

Guayaquil residents face power outages amid a hot temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius). "It's unbearable, very hot and humid, and we can't use air conditioning or ventilators," a resident told CNN.

"In addition, the water does not flow," added the resident.

The service on the Quito subway system was stopped due to a power outage, and capital Mayor Pabel Mu worryoz said the power outage was very "significant" that it had an impact on the subway even though the subway used an isolated system (electric).

Infrastructure Minister Luque said power outages could have been avoided had Ecuador implemented an investment plan to "protect power generation (electric) and transmission infrastructure" after a similar power outage occurred in 2004.

The power outage that occurred on Wednesday had nothing to do with the energy crisis that has occurred in the country since last April, Luque said.

"The electricity supply we experienced in April was caused by a lack of investment in our new (electric) generation and maintenance (electricity)," said Luque.