Powerless to act over TV

A Secret Harbour man was left frustrated last week after a power cut left him without television for almost 24 hours.

Len Thiele said electricity went off at his Secret Harbour Boulevard home about 6.20pm on Tuesday but, when power was restored 50 minutes later, his digital television did not retrieve its signal.

Mr Thiele claimed the problem was the result of a nearby satellite dish, installed by property developers when the estate was built, which had not been re-set following the storm.

“It was just really frustrating because we could not find out who was responsible for the dish or who to call,” he said.

“I checked with neighbours, rang Western Power and even rang Paul Papalia’s office, but no one seemed to know who was responsible for it.

“I have a card with a number of who to call in that type of situation but they told me they were no longer responsible for the dish.”

Mr Thiele said television connection was often affected during severe weather.

“I can’t understand why the power and TV always seems to go out across Secret Harbour — we have underground power lines,” he said.

A Western Power spokesman said about 2000 customers lost power during last week’s storm and power was restored within 90 minutes.

A spokesman for cable network company E-Y Connection Point, responsible for Secret Harbour’s telecommunication infrastructure, confirmed the suburb’s network was damaged as a result of the storm.