Over 20 cars are stranded at the Petronas Solaris Besraya petrol station this morning. The station’s petrol supply is believed to have been contaminated with water. The mix up has caused significant engine damage to the cars affected.
Update [20181228 2035hrs]: Petronas Dagangan Berhad has completed its investigation and has issued a statement on its findings. The statement is published verbatim here:
===
PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad (PDB) has conducted a thorough investigation in relation to this morning’s incident at PETRONAS Station Solaris Besraya, and is pleased to announce that the said station has now resumed operations.
The investigation found leakage in one of the fuel tanks at the station, which has contaminated the fuel with water. Immediate remedial actions were taken to flush out the contaminated fuel and isolate the affected tank.
PDB has been in contact with and is assisting the customers affected by this morning’s incident.
Following thorough checks and fuel integrity tests carried out at all pumps at this station, the PETRONAS Station Solaris Besraya has now resumed business operations as usual.
The team will remain on site today and tomorrow to render any further assistance required.
Again, PDB apologises for all inconveniences caused.
===
Those who were affected reported their vehicles dying suddenly a few minutes after driving off from the petrol station. However, the petrol station was quick to react to the situation by offering assistance to affected customers.
The Petronas Solaris Besraya station has since closed its operation until the matter is resolved.
Meanwhile, Petronas Dagangan Berhad has since issued a statement on social media. The company apologised for the inconvenience and has said that it will bear full responsibility:
In reference to the incident at PETRONAS Station Solaris Besraya this morning. We take this matter seriously and sincerely apologise to all our customers for the inconveniences this have caused. pic.twitter.com/7inoyyVpMx
— PETRONAS Brands (@Petronasbrands) December 28, 2018
Director of the Enforcement Division, Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, (KPDNHEP), Datuk Mohd. Roslan Mahayuddin, who spoke to Utusan Online said he had instructed his officers to go to the petrol station after the incident had gone viral on social media.
“About four enforcement officers from our Kajang office was sent to the location and informed by the petrol station owners that the problem was caused due to water contamination in one of the petrol tanks at the station.
“I was informed that the petrol station is taking remedial action should be operational again by
Mohd Roslan added that petrol station operator should bear all damages suffered by the customers affected.
“On the part of KPDNHEP we have taken samples of the contaminated petrol and will see if there are any violations made under the consumer law, if there is a violation we will investigate and take the appropriate action,” he said
The situation on location:
kejadian kereta isi minyak petrol rupanya diesel, lokasi di Petronas Solaris Serdang. lebuhraya BESRAYA. Punca Video: Whatsapp Group pic.twitter.com/cql77leidC
— Mohd Shazlan B Sh Md (@Md_Shazlan) December 28, 2018
Location of Petronas Solaris Serdang
Car owners to be compensated in three days
A representative of PDB told NST that the company will offer compensation to drivers who had their vehicles damaged by the contaminated fuel.
The person explained that the compensation would be done on a claimable basis where the drivers will first need to be verified as a genuine victim of the incident before going to the workshop of their choice.
The victims will need to pay for the repairs themselves and then submit the invoice to PDB for claims. PDB will then reimburse the money for the repairs to the driver within three days of receiving the invoice.
“As of right now, a number of drivers from the 20 who were affected have already been reimbursed,” said the representative.
“We understand that it is the holiday season and that people need their cars more than ever so we want to make this as quick and as painless as possible,” the representative added.
This post has since been edited with updated information on the matter.
