Malakoff’s Tanjung Bin Power Plant (“TBPP”) located in Pontian, Johor conducted a three-day full-scale simulation exercise named ‘Ex Power Tanjung Bin 2017’, from 28 until 30 November 2017, in collaboration with Johor National Security Council (“NSC”). The exercise was in accordance to ‘Arahan MKN No.18’ (Pengurusan dan Pengendalian Krisis Keganasan), ‘Arahan MKN No. 20’ (Pengurusan Bencana), and ‘Arahan MKN No. 21’ (Pengurusan Ancaman Ketenteraman Awam).

TBPP is classified by the government as ‘Sasaran Penting Keutamaan Satu’, hence the exercise was carried out to ascertain the level of emergency and crisis response preparedness between the relevant authorities and TBPP. The exercise also tested the Standard Operating Procedures (“SOPs”) between the parties involved, in relation to Malakoff’s Business Continuity Management (“BCM”) Plan.

The full-scale real-time drill involved Polis Diraja Malaysia (“PDRM”) and its various units, from Bahagian Keselamatan Dalam Negeri dan Ketenteraman Awam Bukit Aman, Bahagian Pengurusan Krisis, Ketenteraman Awam dan Bencana, Maktab PDRM, Markas Briged Tenggara PGA, Markas Briged Tengah PGA, Kontinjen Johor, Pasukan Polis Marin Wilayah 2, Trup Komando 69, while other supporting government agencies included Bahagian Perisikan dan Pengendalian Krisis (BPPKN), Markas 7 Briged Infantri Malaysia, Agensi Penguatkuasa Maritim Malaysia Wilayah Selatan, Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Negeri Johor, Kementerian Kesihatan Negeri Johor, Jabatan Laut Wilayah Selatan, Angkatan Pertahanan Awam Negeri Johor, Jabatan Penerangan Negeri Johor, Jabatan Penyiaran Negeri Johor, RELA Negeri Johor, and Pejabat Daerah Pontian.

About 500 external and internal personnel were involved taking-up roles such as ‘pelaku’, ‘pemerhati’, ‘pengadil’, ‘perunding’ and members of the Crisis Management Team (“CMT”) and Crisis Response Team (“CRT”).

Johor NSC Director, YBhg. En. Baharuddin Tahir said, “This is the first full-scale real time exercise that we have carried out in Johor, in particular, to test the execution of ‘Arahan MKN No. 18’, that is to ensure our preparedness in dealing with terrorist threat and intrusion.”

“Recent national and international events heighten the importance of public organizations testing their emergency response procedures to reassure the safety of the communities we serve.

“Malakoff already has a good plan in place and the simulation exercise ensures that no stones are left unturned in further improving the emergency plans for the company,” he added.

The exercise started with a one-day workshop with the relevant government agencies at Kukup Golf Resort, Pontian on 28 November 2017, followed by a tabletop exercise as a mock-up run-through of the scenarios for the exercise the next morning.

In the afternoon, the actual simulation drill started at TBPP with a mock strike at TBPP’s guardhouse that was kept under control by police from IPD Pontian and assisted by TBPP’s security personnel. This was followed by a mock explosion and fire drill at TBPP’s car park. During the mock explosion, Unit Anjing Pengesan PDRM (“K9”) came to demonstrate the detection of the bomb and followed by the destruction of the identified bomb by Unit Pemusnah Bom (“UPB”) of PDRM. The fire drill on the other hand, tested TBPP’s Emergency Response Team (“ERT”) capability in fighting fire that broke out at one of the unused cabin container. Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia (“JBPM”) also arrived at the scene and supported TBPP’s ERT and they managed to extinguish the fire safely.

The final event, was the mock terrorist attack that included the capture of TBPP staff as ‘hostages’. For this simulation, NSC executed ‘Arahan MKN No. 18’, a standard operating procedure that covers Terrorist Crisis Management and Control (‘Pengurusan dan Pengendalian Krisis Keganasan’). The procedure involved negotiations between a specialized team of trained negotiators from PDRM that resulted in the release of hostages and the ‘terrorists’ being “killed or captured” by the assault team from VAT 69.

Chief Executive Officer of Malakoff, YBhg. Dato’ Ahmad Fuaad Kenali acknowledged the commitment of all parties involved in the simulation exercise. “We are grateful for this collaboration with NSC and PDRM, which resulted to the successful execution of the exercise. The event provided a good platform for us to test our SOPs if such incidents were to occur.”

“It is always our priority to strive in improving the safety and security of our facilities, and this exercise boosts the confidence level of our emergency response and crisis management teams and all responders involved during crisis,” he added.

After the culmination of the event, a post-mortem was conducted and chaired by DCP Datuk Azizan b. Abd Aziz, Deputy Director of Internal Security and Public Order Bukit Aman to identify the ‘lessons learned’ with a view to improve the SOPs between the relevant government agencies and TBPP.