VETERAN RETURNS TO FIND ELECTRICITY PROJECT STILL ALIVE

Sakina Mohamed

CAMERON HIGHLANDS, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- To passers-by, the unassuming Peter
Shallow may seem just like another foreign tourist visiting Cameron Highlands.

But the 87-year-old Shallow's visit to the highlands on Oct 8 was
purposeful. Sixty years ago, Shallow was an engineer for national power provider
Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), then known as the Central Electricity Board (CEB)
of the Federation of Malaya.

He was also the resident engineer who worked on the Cameron Highlands and
Batang Padang Hydroelectric Scheme, which started operations in 1959. The scheme
was undertaken as a pilot project to demonstrate the advantages of the
development of hydroelectric power.

Shallow had returned to see for himself what had become of the scheme. In
truth, he had expected it to be abandoned like many of the early projects of
countries he had seen around the world. But what he saw evoked feelings of great
awe and pride within him.

"Normally a project lasts about 50 years or so, and then you find that they
are no longer as efficient as they used to be," said Shallow to Bernama, as he
stood in front of the Ringlet reservoir, which formed part of the hydroelectric
scheme.

"But in this particular case, all the staff had got together to give it a
new lease of life and so that it could run for much longer in the future.

"I had always been wondering whether to come back or not. But this is an
inspiration that is well worth coming. It is a great satisfaction to be part of
something that lasted so long and done so well, and gone forward as it should
have," remarked England-born Shallow.

According to TNB, after operating for more than 40 years, the scheme
underwent a Life Extension Project to increase the station's capacity and
efficiency where the old systems were replaced with new ones that employed the
best practices in power generation.

Shallow's visit was also timely as TNB celebrates its 60th anniversary this
year. On Shallow's part the visit was meaningful too as it is now almost 50
years after the Robinson Falls Power Station, the first station of the
hydroelectric scheme, was commissioned. The total cost of the scheme at that
time was RM125 million (US$36.9 million).

Reminiscing his time working on the project, Shallow said there were so many
fond memories especially of "how friendly everything was".

"I remember how all the people were working on it, it doesn't matter who
they were or what level they were at, they were all contributing and doing their
bit and everybody was doing what was essential," he said.

There were of course, some challenges, he said, as the project was something
relatively new in Malaya. The first hydroelectric project was built in
Chenderoh in 1932, in an almost completely different environment.

Shallow recalled: "A typical problem we have had in Robinson Falls was the
local contractor was a Chinese man who couldn't read or speak English, and you
had only got English instructions on what had to be done.

"So we had to sit together and converse in our poor Malay, we had to put
things down in the sand to show what had to be done, but he would always try to
do it better than what had been asked," he said, laughing.

On the number of manpower working on the scheme, Shallow said it was hard to
remember the number involved but recalled with certainty that almost 3,000
people worked on the Batang Padang scheme alone.

"The entire scheme had two main parts, the first completed in 1963 was the
Cameron Highlands scheme. The scheme took water from the Telom river through a
six mile tunnel into the reservoir in Ringlet across to Jor and into the main
Jor Power Station.

"In order to increase power in the upper little rivers, one river was moved
into another one and small hydro stations were built so that the people in the
hydroelectric divisions, the people working with the CEB had their own
experience in designing their own schemes and supervising the building of it.
Those people now worked up their positions in TNB and are deputy general
managers for projects because they have had some basic experience right from the
start," Shallow said.

The hydroelectric scheme did more than just providing electricity and
careers. Its construction also contributed to the development of roads and
amenities in the district, literally paving way for it to become what it is
today, a vegetable supply hub for the country and for export market apart from
being a prime tourist attraction.

Shallow explained: "It was very difficult to get construction material up
back then as the roads were much narrower. They did have difficulties in
producing the equipment, and they had to have special large multi-wheeled
lorries to transport them up.

"The roads had to be improved, bridges had to be strengthened just to get
all the material up, so yes, I would say that the construction of the
hydroelectric scheme had at the same time improved the roads as well as the
economy."

Shallow left Malaysia nearly 40 years ago after the construction of the
scheme and has worked all over the world ever since. Upon return to his
homeland, he worked on the Thames Barrier, a large flood control structure on
the River Thames.

"I was then out with the United Nations to Greece and Yugoslavia where they
shared common water resources, where I helped them work out how they might share
the costs and others, after that I was with the World Bank and Food and
Agriculture Organisation, a job which took me all over the world," he said.

He said he had always wanted to return to Malaysia and finally decided to go
on a group tour to Malaysia, selecting a package that included a visit to
Cameron Highlands.

Shallow said he hardly recognised the district as the landscape had changed,
with new structures and better roads.

However, he said, one thing that hasn't changed was the hospitality of the
Malaysian people. Shallow admitted that he had not expected the grand welcome
and tour he was accorded with when he spoke to TNB of his intention to drop by
at the stations.

"The staff had been so kind, taking me around and showing me how everything
is being done now.

"I admire them for what they've been doing such as keeping everything up to
date, working on projects and maintaining it so that it would go on in the
future," he said.

The scheme spans over the states of Kelantan, Pahang and Perak. Four of the
seven stations under the scheme are operated by remote supervisory control from
the Cameron Highlands Group Control Centre.

This is achieved by linking the stations via fiber optic communication lines
to the control centre, where monitoring and controlling functions are conducted.

Shallow visited several of the stations during his tour of the scheme and
marveled at TNB's progress after 60 years.

"It's really wonderful that they're concentrating on making sure that the
facilities exist for as long as possible.

"It makes one really proud to be part of something, even if it was in the
past," he said.
-- BERNAMA