PETALING JAYA: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) must take full responsibility for making an “inconsiderate and wrong decision” which will now cause massive water disruptions in the Klang Valley starting today until Christmas Eve, says Teresa Kok of the DAP.
“Despite facing heavy public backlash, TNB has decided to go ahead with its maintenance works,” the Seputeh lawmaker said in a statement today.
She said that if repairs and maintenance work at the Bukit Badong substation – which supplies electricity to the Sungai Selangor water treatment plants – had truly become unavoidable, then TNB should take full responsibility for the impending water woes.
Yesterday she questioned why TNB insisted on carrying out the maintenance work during the pre-festive period, and urged the utility company to postpone it to another date.
However TNB vice-president (distribution) Baharin Din replied that after inspections, including thermal scanning last week, they found two hot spots that required immediate action to prevent major damage to the equipment.
In a report in The Star today, TNB said it had wanted to carry out the maintenance work on Sept 27, but a “collective decision” was made to push it towards the end of the year instead.
“The decision to carry out the work from today was decided collectively with the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) during a meeting on Oct 31,” said TNB chief corporate officer Roslan Ab Rahman.
Kok, however, said consumers could not accept TNB’s explanation and wanted to know why maintenance work could not have been carried out instead during a non-festive season.
“If the repairs or maintenance work have become unavoidable now, it is simply because of the wrong decision made on Oct 31.”
Kok said there were lingering questions TNB had to answer:
- Why did TNB agree to the postponement of the maintenance work to the festive season?
- Did TNB not see earlier hot spots that they now claim required immediate repairs? Why then did they postpone the date of repairs and maintenance from Sept 27 to Dec 19?
Kok also appealed to Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Maximus Ongkili to step in and direct TNB to postpone its maintenance work to after the festive season.