PETALING JAYA: SME Association of Malaysia national president Ding Hong Sing said the massive blackouts in many parts of Peninsulas Malaysia this morning had forced businesses to halt their operations and seriously impacted many in the manufacturing, retail, F&B sectors as well as other companies.

In an interview with Sin Chew Daily, Ding said Tenaga Nasional Berhad must compensate companies affected by the power outage.

“TNB must provide rebates for affected companies.”

He said factories had to halt their operations and their workers could not work as usual because of the power outage, but they still had to pay all the fixed expenses, including the workers’ wages and factory rents, among others.

He also said he did not think TNB could fully restore the service within three hours.

He urged the government not to allow such incidents to keep happening, as this would adversely affect foreign investors’ confidence in the country.