Feevah island in Shaviyani atoll has been in a blackout since Wednesday night, the island council’s Vice President Ahmed Adil has said.

Adil said that the drawn-out blackout occurred at 8:30 pm.

He revealed that one engine has been generating electricity to the entire island for a year now and that the engine had broken down some time back.

Highlighting that two employees from the FENAKA branch in Nilandhoo island nearby had arrived at the island to fix the generator, Adil stated that island residents had however driven them off because they had reportedly taken the engine’s spare parts back to Nilandhoo in previous occasions.

“Island residents do not want them to fix the engine because they take parts of the engine when they come to fix it. That’s why residents drove them off the island” said Adil.

Feevah residents have been protesting inside the engine house since the blackout, asking for a new generator which Adil stated will take at least 45 days to arrive. A new engine will take about 60 days to begin operating as well.

Adil stated that they are unsure when at least a temporary solution will be brought to the island’s electricity issues.