He is still waiting for CUC to compensate him.
The trouble started when the wiring of the CUC pole connected to their new house sparked.
Dela Cruz, 77, who is blind and has difficulty in hearing, said he heard an explosion.
He said CUC people came when they first reported the incident but never bothered to repair the burned electrical wiring.
A CUC crew later arrived to do some repairs, which restored power to Dela Cruz’s house.
However, Dela Cruz said when they checked their appliances, they were all broken. These included a wireless DVD theater system, three electric fans, one small ice box and a food and ice bucket.
Mrs. Marietta Dela Cruz said she reported to CUC the incident and sought compensation for their appliances.
She said the ice box was used to store her husband’s medicine and food.
CUC’s power division is “giving us a hard time,” she said. “They always ask for assessment and another assessment for the repair of the appliances.”
Mrs. Dela Cruz said she sought assistance from the Micronesia Legal Services Corp. but it rejected her request.
“We have decided not to take your case because it is not within our priorities,” MLSC told her in a letter dated July 2.
On Friday, when the government’s nonessential offices shut down, the couple’s problems got worse.
Mr. Dela Cruz is one of the homebound senior citizens of the Aging Center.
The Aging Center was not considered an “essential” agency, so its meal service to senior citizens like Mr. Dela Cruz also stopped.
Asked for comment, CUC Assistant Executive Director Utu Abe Malae said he learned that “the customer’s appliances were damaged because of a worn insulation on the service drop wires — a loose neutral which caused a high voltage, 240 v, to surge through appliances.”
CUC will replace the damaged appliances, he added.
He said “we were waiting for the estimate from the customer’s vendor to replace the appliances.”
Mr. Dela Cruz said he would appreciate it if CUC could replace his ice bucket.
“That will help me a lot in storing my medicine,” he said.
