Electricity supply services, forest, wildlife management allowed to operate

He said the activities allowed under the electricity supply sector in the peninsula and Sabah are supply restoration, repair work and electricity supply system operations.

In addition, system consolidation and critical maintenance for the electricity supply system set by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) are also allowed, he said.

"These activities are allowed to ensure continuous electricity supply," he said in a statement today.

The National Security Council (MKN) meeting regarding COVID-19 management last Friday decided to implement a total lockdown of the economic and social sectors throughout the country for 14 days beginning today.

Shamsul Anuar said consumer services including meter reading and physical bill delivery to customer premises are also allowed but subject to authorities' approval for areas under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO).

Kedai Tenaga operations in the peninsula is allowed from 9 am till 1 pm while customer service centres in Sabah will not be open throughout the total lockdown, he added.

"Connection of new supply and meters that are critical will be determined by TNB and SESB, for instance, for health facilities, vaccination centres and such," he said.

He said that new energy project development work under the Large Scale Solar (LSS), Net Energy Metering (NEM) and Feed-In Tariff (FiT) programmes were not allowed with the exception of existing projects that need to be continued to ensure public safety and security at the project sites.

"For power plants that are connected to the grid, including mini-hydropower, solar, biomass and biogas plants that are in operation, only daily operations are allowed.

"We encourage having no more than 30 per cent of workers, but the maximum numbers allowed is 50 per cent. Management personnel should not exceed 10 per cent," he said.

For the forestry management sector in the peninsula, Shamsul Anuar said only enforcement operations are allowed with compliance with the standard operating procedure (SOP) to ensure that forests are protected.

This also applied to wildlife and protected areas management to ensure the continued protection of the country's biodiversity, he said.

Companies that have yet to receive official approval from the ministry to operate can submit their applications through the COVID-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS) 3.0 website managed by the International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI), he added.