Residents of rural Belize had to endure a 15 hour blackout today and it was due to another incident of theft. It happened at 11:30 last night - when thieves who were attempting to steal underground copper wires - unearthed underground aluminum cables on the Coastal Road near Gales Point Manatee Village.

Today BEL dispatched work crews to the area who constructed temporary overhead lines. Power supply was restored to Gales Point Manatee Village at around 3 o'clock this afternoon.

Works to replace the damaged infrastructure and reconstruct the underground system will continue throughout the week and does not require any planned power outage for customers in the area.

BEL's Dangriga Substation Building, located at Mile 6 on the Hummingbird Highway was targeted on Saturday when thieves stole utility grade batteries.

Channel 7