MP complains of ‘terrible’ power failures in Sabah

Mohamad Alamin, MP for Kimanis, says there are power failures almost every day in his constituency.

KUALA LUMPUR: People in Sabah suffer “terrible” power failures, almost every day especially in the Kimanis area, the local MP complained in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Mohamad Alamin (BN-Kimanis) said the people in the state, including his parliamentary constituency, faced electricity outages almost every day, which not only affected their daily lives but also caused property damage.

“In Sabah we have the Kimanis Independent Power Plant and in fact, we have enough power in Sabah.

“But why are disruptions (of electricity supply) so common in Sabah, in Kimanis almost every day there are black-outs and so on. Not only does it affect work, worse still it causes damage to electrical equipment in our people’s homes,” he said.

He said this while debating the Supply (Reallocation of Appropriated Expenditure) Bill 2020 at the committee-level at the Dewan Rakyat.

He said when complaints were submitted to Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), the public was asked to lodge a police report before any payment was made, and the matter could take months.

Mohamad also requested for the upgrading of the electrical system in Sabah, as the cables and transformers used in the state were said to be outdated.

“The transformers can no longer accommodate (current needs), a transformer built decades or a dozen years ago, perhaps (formerly) for a village, it can accommodate and provide power for up to 20, 50 houses.

“Times have changed, hundreds of new houses are being built but the transformers are still the same (old ones). I ask SESB to please upgrade the transformers that were built a long time ago, as well as the wiring of the cables from pole to pole,” he said.

In reply, energy minister Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said the upgrading of cables and transformers in Sabah would be coordinated by SESB either through internal allocations or under the 12th Malaysia Plan.

The house approved the Supply Bill by a 5-vote margin to provide for the reallocation of up to RM7.1 billion to meet expenditures for the reorganisation of ministries in the new government in March. - FMT