NATIONAL utility provider Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) remains committed to ensuring that the electricity supply at all 6,623 voting centres and 165 official vote-tallying centres throughout Peninsula Malaysia is not disrupted on polling day today.
In a statement, TNB chief distribution network officer Wan Nazmy Wan Mahmood said 3,200 workers have been assigned to always be on standby in the field and operation rooms nationwide in case of any disruptions to the voting process.
“The electricity supply situation throughout the country is being monitored at all times until the official tallying of votes, which is expected to continue until midnight,” he said.
He added that despite the ongoing flooding in several localities, TNB will ensure that electricity supply to the temporary evacuation centres will not be interrupted.
Besides that, TNB’s mobile power lorries and mobile generator sets have been stationed at each official vote-tallying centre and in several flooded locations to be on standby to provide electricity if needed.
TNB, which only operates in West Malaysia and Sabah, previously reminded all parties to refrain from excavation work in an effort to reduce the risk of touching electric cables, thereby avoiding the possibility of electricity supply disruptions due to cable damage.
Prior allegations of blackouts occurring during vote counting for the 2013 polls were rubbished by the Election Commission (EC) as both a ploy and a lie.
Meanwhile, voting in all 11 polling centres in Baram, Sarawak, has been postponed due to poor weather and the inability of Election Commission (EC) workers to reach their work stations, be it through air, land or water.
This followed viral videos of voters in Kampung Long Panai and Kampung Long Bemang taking boats and wading through floodwaters to reach their polling centres in the federal constituency, which is a flood-prone area.
Voter turnout as of 1pm is at 50%, meaning 10.5 million eligible voters have cast their ballots so far; on polling day in 2018, 8.2 million votes had been received by this time. – Nov 19, 2022
Main photo credit: The Star
