PSALM, Napocor to investigate fatal scaffolding collapse at Rizal power plant
The Department of Energy has directed the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) and the National Power Corporation (Napocor) to investigate the collapse of the scaffolding on a smokestack of the 620-megawatt Malaya diesel power plant in Pililia, Rizal, which killed five people.
"We do sympathize with the families and the best sympathy we can give is to make sure it doesn’t happen again. And that’s why I really want to get down to the bottom of why it happened, how it happened," said Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla.
Petilla, who has yet to receive an official report on the incident, said the subcontractor of plant operator SPC Power Corp. should also be investigated.
"It should be the concern of everybody whoever owns the contract...And they were contracted to do the maintenance of the plant," he said.
Three bodies have already been extricated from the site; two more have yet to be recovered. According to plant manager Virgilio Cruz, 17 workers—employees of East West Works & Industrial Services, Inc.—were affected when the scaffolding collapsed.
"[A]round 17 workers were working inside. Twelve of them were already brought to the hospital, and there were five casualties," he said.
Cruz said that the plant's management has not started its own investigation yet, as they oculdn't enter the site to assess the situation.
"Right now, our focus is to retrieve the two workers that are still inside. We're trying our best. Its very dangerous because it unstable, so we take extra precautionary measures," he said.
Petilla said that the incident will not cause any power disruption, as the plant acts as a buffer when one of the larger power plants goes offline.
“We will clear what happened to make sure it won’t happen again but we need to [continue its maintenance] because this particular plant is crucial when Malampaya goes down for maintenance sometime [in the] summer," he said. — BM, GMA News
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