KUALA LUMPUR: Suffer some now or suffer a lot more later. That was the message from TNB today on water cuts in Klang Valley from tomorrow for repairs. It was responding to Netizens’ anger over the disruption to the water supply that will continue until Christmas Eve.
“Physical inspections, including thermal scanning on Dec 15, detected two hot spots that need immediate action to prevent major damage to the equipment at the main entry substation,” TNB told Malay Mail Online today.
“If the scheduled works are delayed again, a flashover could occur at any point and repairs would then take as long as three weeks,” it said, drawing a contrast to 16 hours of scheduled disruptions tomorrow.
Just today, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok issued a statement calling on TNB, or Tenaga Nasional Bhd, to put off the works until after the holidays. It was insensitive of them to schedule the repairs for this period, she said.
The earlier reason TNB gave for repairs from tomorrow through to Christmas Eve was that this was the period of lowest water use compared to the rest of the year.
“How could a decision be made with so much weightage given to the lowest consumption factor, without any regard for the inconvenience caused during the festive season?” Kok asked in her statement published today.
“I call on Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Maximus Ongkili to step in and instruct that the TNB maintenance work be postponed to a suitable date,” she said.
TNB says the situation at its facility in Bukit Badong, Hulu Selangor, was worsening to the point where any delay could cause a worse problem, affecting three Sungai Selangor water treatment plants even more.