Three persons arrested for trying to stop Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) workers from constructing high tension cable towers in Rawang New Village yesterday are being further remanded until 12pm tomorrow.

NONE While the police applied for a four-day remand for the three, a Selayang magistrate this morning approved only a 24-hour remand.

According to their lawyer HC Tan, the magistrate held that their alleged offences - obstructing public officers from carrying out their duty and damaging public property - are not of serious nature, hence the period should be sufficient for police investigations.

"The police have to release them before 12pm tomorrow," Tan added.

The three persons arrested are A Kumaran and Alex Gan, aides to Rawang assemblyperson Gan Pei Nei, and Wan Hang Ming from Rawang New Village.

About 30 supporters and villagers including Gan, Selangor exco member Dr Xavier Jayakumar and Selayang municipal councillor Lee Khai Loon, were present at the court to give their support.

Selayang council stops work

Their arrests followed an incident that precipitated after about a dozen TNB workers appeared at the village, unannounced, to begin work at about 9am yesterday.

NONE The TNB staff came backed by around 50 police personnel.        

A fracas broke out when scores of villagers confronted the workers to try to stop the works, leading to the arrest of the three.

The standoff only ended at 4.30pm when Selayang municipal council officers arrived at the scene to stop the TNB construction on the grounds that the local government had not given its approval.

TNB is attempting to resume the construction of the high tension cable towers that was halted five years ago, after villagers mounted a legal challenge to stop the project.

The matter was eventually brought to the Federal Court, which  ruled in TNB's favour.

Despite the ruling, the villagers still resisted the company engineering team’s  attempts to resume works in March.

The Selangor government has intervened, and has offered TNB an alternative site for the towers and is pushing for a joint committee, which will involve the residents as well, to deliberate on the case.