Sabah govt won’t get involved in 1Borneo power dispute, says Shafie

Shafie also says no concrete decision made on Tanjung Aru Eco Development but implies it may proceed according to original plan.

Sabah CM Shafie Apdal says it is better for both parties to sit down to resolve amicably the unpaid electricity bill problem without asking the government to intervene.

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government will stand its ground and not get involved in the current dispute between a shopping mall that failed to pay its RM8 million electricity bill and the utility company that has decided enough is enough.

Chief Minister Shafie Apdal said his decision to not let the government interfere in the dispute was because he did not want to continue the culture of the government “bailing out” companies whenever they were in trouble.

“I must insist that we must let the market forces prevail. This is crucial for us.

“We cannot afford to intervene every now and then … whenever someone gets into trouble the government would jump to their rescue.”

Shafie added he was more concerned about what would happen to the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) if it did not have enough money to provide power to the whole state.

If such a thing happened, he said everybody in Sabah will suffer and not just the management of the 1Borneo Hypermall, the biggest shopping mall in East Malaysia, or the tenants of 1Borneo.

He said the problem of unpaid electricity bills was not new and by right it should have been settled a long time ago.

As of now, he said it was better for both parties to sit down to resolve their problem amicably without asking the government to intervene.

“I know it is painful to tenants, especially the small retailers.

“Some of them may even have to close shop.

“I would advise them to sit down with the management and resolve the issue as soon as possible.”

He insisted that allowing such disputes to take their course was better for the long term because otherwise, if the government bailed 1Borneo out of this problem, he would be opening the floodgates for other problems to be sorted out by the state.

“Then people from all over Sabah will come to the government, electricity bills in hand, asking the government to help settle them,” he said.

The SESB had disconnected 1Borneo’s electricity supply on June 27 after it failed to pay an initial RM9.3 million in arrears.

Power was restored after the mall paid RM700,000 the same day.

However, the utility company was forced to cut off power supply to the mall again on July 11 after the 1Borneo management failed to settle the remaining overdue power bills, amounting to more than RM8 million.

Tanjung Aru Eco Development

Meanwhile, Shafie said the state Cabinet will decide on what to do with the Tanjung Aru Eco Development (TAED) project in six weeks’ time.

He said while he understood the concern of the grassroots that want the project to be scrapped completely, he also must take into account the need for development in the state.

These development projects, he said, would provide much-needed job opportunities for the people.

“If the project continues, if it is possible to downsize, then it is an option. Otherwise, we can carry on according to the original master plan.

“But whatever it is, we must strike a balance and hear the opinions from all sides. This is still under discussion and there is an ample time to make a decision,” he said.

The TAED project is part of a master plan for a facelift of the greater Tanjung Aru area. It was put on hold following Barisan Nasional’s defeat in the recent election.