PETALING JAYA, Dec 20 — Non-governmental organisations (NGO) have voiced their discontent with the reasons given by the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry on the current water cuts. 

Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia’s (Awer) president S. Piarapakaran said the ministry was "obviously cornered to make this decision, hence the rush in carrying out the maintenance works”. 

Responding to the ministry’s explanation that it had considered the revision period of SPM and STPM students, Piarapakaran said it was a joke.

"If they are saying it is very critical, they should have thought about the problems that could have occurred during the examination period,” he said.

"What if unscheduled power cuts had happened during examination time?” 

Piarapakaran said such maintenance works should not be postponed, citing a case where an explosion occurred at a refinery in Terengganu after works were delayed. 

"Usually, these kinds of maintenance works cannot be delayed. From September until now, many things could have happened and the situation could have been far worse,” he said. 

Piarapakaran said the ministry needed to "grow up when it comes to decision-making”. 

"If the ministry claims the water reserve margin is now very low, they should not be doing the maintenance,” he said. 

"This is not the first time they have done the maintenance works, they should be experts by now.”

"They are people in the industry who know what to do. Being experts, if they had made a mistake, they should have found out how to solve it.” 

Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam president Datuk Jacob George said that before the ministry made the decision, it  should have spoken to representatives of the consumer groups. 

"This is a long-standing issue affecting many people. They need to sharpen their thinking skills,” he said.

Klang DAP MP Charles Santiago said the sudden water disruptions had caused panic in his constituency. 

"People are asking me if there will be a nationwide power cut,” he said.

Santiago said this was poor planning and management by the government.

"They are making the people pay for their mistakes,” he said. 

On Sunday, Barisan Nasional lawmakers had also lashed out at Tenaga Nasional Bhd for going ahead with the maintenance of a substation, which caused the water disruption. 

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said it was unacceptable the water cuts were happening with Christmas around the corner. 

"Unless it is an emergency, this should not be allowed to proceed. If it is scheduled maintenance, it can and should be delayed. It is unthinkable during a time you will have friends and family coming over, there would be no water for cooking and cleaning. Totally unacceptable,” he said.