Malaysian power cut causes major losses<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): A massive power failure which began
\nSaturday in peninsular Malaysia and lasted up to 16 hours has
\ncaused major financial losses to industry and retailers forced to
\nshut down.<\/p>\n
\"In terms of financial losses it is certainly very huge,\" said
\nDeputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, adding the power failure was
\na major embarrassment to the country and that Malaysia must seek
\nan alternative power distribution system.<\/p>\n
Most factories in major industrial areas, particularly the
\n\"Silicon Island\" of Penang, the capital Kuala Lumpur and southern
\nJohore state, were either forced to shut down or operate at
\nminimum capacity.<\/p>\n
Production schedules were badly hit during the power failure,
\nwhich lasted up to 16 hours in some areas. Thousands of factory
\nworkers were asked to return home as power was still not restored
\nby midnight Saturday (1600 GMT).<\/p>\n
Power supply was fully restored by 9:30 a.m. (0130 GMT)
\nyesterday, a spokesman for state-owned power company Tenaga
\nNasional said.<\/p>\n
The power cut, the worst this decade, was traced to the Paka
\npower station in northeastern Terengganu state, which tripped at
\n5:17 p.m. (0917 GMT) Saturday.<\/p>\n
A domino effect caused the national grid to collapse, shutting
\ndown supply at all power stations linked to the system.<\/p>\n
The blackout caused traffic chaos in cities and industrial
\nshutdowns across the country, while four children died when their
\nhouse in central Perak state was destroyed by a fire believed to
\nhave been caused by a candle.<\/p>\n
Kuala Lumpur police reported 236 road accidents to midnight
\nSaturday, and 3,000 passengers were stranded at several railway
\nstations in central Selangor state when 10 commuter trains either
\ncame to a halt or had their journeys cancelled.<\/p>\n
Anwar said the government must review the country's power
\nsupply, referring to a similar outage in September, 1992 when
\npeninsular Malaysia was also plunged into darkness.<\/p>\n
A bolt of lightning struck four power lines in Terengganu in
\nthat blackout and knocked out 15 power stations on the west
\ncoast. Factories, retailers and hotels sustained 220 million
\nringgit (US$88 million) in losses. Power was not fully restored
\nfor three days.<\/p>\n
In June last year, 40 manufacturers in Penang suffered $16
\nmillion in losses during a power cut caused by a fire that
\ndestroyed cables carrying electricity to the island.<\/p>\n
Tenaga Nasional should be held responsible for the fault, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"If the fault was caused by a natural disaster, it is
\nunderstandable. However, from the report we have received so far,
\nit appears that it is due to equipment failure,\" he added.<\/p>\n
A senior minister lambasted Tenaga, saying such power outages
\nwould affect the country's image as an investment center.<\/p>\n
\"Factories as well as businesses nationwide are losing
\nmillions of ringgit, \" said Lim Keng Yaik, the primary industries
\nminister, referring to the 10, 000 power interruptions since
\nSeptember, 1994.<\/p>",
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