Lefke without electricity for more than a day: Kıb-Tek building a 3 km alternative line

Lefke has been without electricity for more than a day after a storm damaged power lines. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’s state electricity company Kıb-Tek is laying a 3 km alternative line to the district and expects to complete the work by the evening of 30 August.

As Kıb-Tek chairman Gürsel Uzun told the TAK news agency, the power networks damaged by the storm cannot be reinstalled in a short time: specially manufactured parts are needed to restore them. The company therefore decided not to wait and to supply the district with electricity by bypassing the damaged section.

Kıb-Tek crews from across the island and several contractors are involved in laying the new line. Uzun warned, however, that conditions at the site are difficult: the area has become waterlogged after heavy rains, making access to the sites difficult.

Lefke lost power because of severe weather on 29 August, when the TRNC meteorological service recorded a wind gust of 182 km/h in Gemikonagi — a record for Northern Cyprus. Two districts, Güzelyurt and Lefke, were left without electricity at the same time, while Kıb-Tek supplied them with power alternately during the night and promised to restore normal service on 30 August.