Selangor and Kuala will suffer power blackouts by the end of the year if no action is taken to strengthen the central transmission line at Kampung Sungai Terentang in Rawang, the MCA warned today.

"There is a water shortage, which they deny. We hear that electricity will be a problem as well, as they have stopped the central transmission station in Rawang, MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek told a a press conference today.

"If the central transmission line is not strengthened, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur will face a electricity shortage crisis towards the end of this year, and the beginning of next year," he said.

NONE Chua was referring to the Selangor government's resistance to Tenaga Nasional Bhd's (TNB) bid to proceed with the construction of towers and the installation of high tension cables through Kampung Sungai Terentang for its Central Area Reinforcement (CAR) project.

Residents claim that the installation will result in health and safety problems and they are opposed the installation.

They have the backing of the state government, which has instead urged TNB to pass the high tension power cables through an alternative path , which the federal government-linked corporation has rejected .

"As usual, Pakatan Rakyat will spin the matter and blame the federal government.

"These are state matters, involving the usage of state land. I will not go into the technical aspects of this argument, as I am not an expert on this issue of how to upgrade electricity.

"Let's leave technical details to the experts. We don't want to be ‘loyar burok'... Don't know, but argue as if we know," Chua said.

Honour your promises, Selangor gov't told

Chua called for accountability from the state government and asked it to honour its promises.

He said that during the 2008 general election campaign, the Selangor state government had promised the people of Rawang that it would solve this problem.

However, it has left the high tension power cable issue unresolved.

"You promised the residents, but you have not delivered. The end result is that there will be a shortage of electricity towards the end of the year.

"We can imagine that in Selangor, there will be a shortage of water, and there will be blackouts as well.

"I pity the residents of Selangor, and I worry about the factories and manufacturing establishments in Selangor," Chua added.