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A simple apologetic TNB statement Posted: 28 Oct 2013 06:44 PM PDT TNB president and CEO Azman Mohamad said in a statement to Bernama yesterday that the rapid increase of the water level in a short period of time late Tuesday and early Wednesday last week was an exceptional situation for the Ringlet Reservoir. The unusually intense rain on October 22 and 23 had brought huge volumes of water to the lake, together with solid waste and debris from what was described as massive land clearing and farming activities upstream. "As a result, for the first time in the history of the 50-year-old reservoir, water level surged at a rate of 1.96ft per hour, which was 13 times more than the normal monsoon rain condition," he said. According to the statement, surplus water had to be discharged in stages from the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam to avert the dam's automatic full spillage through all four spillway gates that would have caused greater destruction to the occupants of Bertam Valley. Four people were confirmed dead, following a flash flood when Sungai Bertam overflowed following the release of water from the dam on October 23. About 80 houses and several cars were also destroyed in the Bertam Valley settlement areas. The TNB statement explained that, by design, a spillway gate is a dam's protective structure used to control the release of water from a dam into a downstream river. I agree with his explanation, thus far. Fine enough. It means TNB had never anticipated that rainfall of such volume would occur in that area. All this while, TNB experts and engineers were only praying for that 'inevitable' not to happen! However, it did happen and caught them by surprise. Unless it is the Aswan Dam in Egypt, TNB top management do not have to worry of any mishap because the area receives minimal rainfalls annually. It would be much more easier if Cameron Highlands shares 'It Never Rains in Southern California'! Azman also said that 'no one should have lived in the path of the dam's water release and it becomes even more unpredictable when weather elements, together with the development activities, come into play.' What a blame game is this? Maybe Azman was not born yet when the 50-year old dam was built in the early 1960s. During its construction, there were already people, notably the Orang Asli resided around that area. The 'tanam sayur' activities were already there for many decades. The Ringlet Reservoir was not built in similar manner of Bakun Dam in Sarawak or the recently completed Sungai Selangor Dam near Bukit Fraser, where notifications, advisories and circulars were made public. Surrounding residents were advised and helped to relocate, and warnings were issued to clear the downstream areas. Azman said given the challenge of these external factors, which were beyond TNB's control, it was impossible to give advance notice to immediately evacuate the water release pathway other than what had already been done in the circumstances. "While we could and should be continually improving our standard operating procedures (SOP), given the circumstances, we seriously doubt whether any SOP can be fully effective in averting such a disaster," he said. "People living in the area are still not out of the woods yet, as development activities that have caused the Bertam reservoir to lose its water holding capacity continue to gain momentum," he added. "We don't think anybody can guarantee the safety of the people at the site given the present conditions. Thus, they should be kept out of harm's way and vacate the area," he added. Its always 'a plan to improve the SOP' after a tragedy. But how? The respective State Government, together with TNB, Land Office and Local Council should take a deeper study into the activities in Cameron Highlands if they have any intention to avoid similar catastrophe. All development on the hills must be sanctioned properly without bias and prejudice. Of course TNB cannot guarantee the safety of those people living along the reservoir's 'water way' but a concerted approach to enhance the safety features of the dam and studying the possibility of relocating affected people to a safer ground, must start from now. Otherwise, TNB or even the government will have to come up with another 'simple apologetic statement' if another disaster strikes.

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