A Sabah Barisan Nasional leader has called for stern action to be taken against those responsible for the state-wide blackout which left millions in the dark for more than six hours on Friday.

United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) secretary-general Datuk Donald Mojuntin said Sabahans were disappointed with Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd over the blackout.

"Such inefficiency is intolerable and unacceptable. Stern action should be taken against those in authority and responsible for the blackout," he said in a statement today.

“Sabahans are disappointed and disgusted with SESB, to say the least. To add insult to injury, electricity tariffs have been increased.”

Mojuntin said even those without power supply yet at their houses were affected because telecommunication lines were down, there was traffic congestion everywhere and eateries were closed.

"Sabahans could not withdraw money from automated teller machines, petrol stations were congested and unable to dispense fuel," he said, adding that the list of woes went on.

Noting that Putrajaya had allocated RM1.4 billion for Sabah to replace hundreds of kilometres of cables over the next five years, Mojuntin asked how much longer do the people of Sabah have to wait until the frequent, almost daily electricity blackouts in certain areas are a thing of the past.

"While we appreciate the efforts of the SESB technicians to restore power as soon as possible yesterday, there must be underlying problems if the blackouts persist."

He also questioned whether the independent power producers (IPPs) engaged by the SESB were performing as expected.

"There have been allegations that some of the equipment used by the IPPs are obsolete and outdated.

"From what I understand, the SESB is contracted to pay these IPPs regardless whether they are operating properly or having a breakdown."

He suggested that these IPPs purchase state-of-the-art equipment as the SESB and the rakyat of Sabah depended heavily on them.