Powerless to act on Sabah’s power problem

 

From Sabahan in the Dark

Kampung Inobong in the Penampang district of Sabah is now officially an area with many wild animals.

This is according to the logic of energy and natural resources minister Takiyuddin Hassan who last month blamed “wild animals” as having contributed to the frequent electricity disruptions in the state.

He also said consumers in Sabah faced 332 minutes of power disruptions on average in 2021.

Well, what do you know, maybe Kampung Inobong isn’t in Penampang (maybe Penampang isn’t in Sabah, and maybe Sabah isn’t in Malaysia).

Let me list the electricity disruptions in this “mythical” area called Kampung Inobong from Feb 12 to April 6 (a span of 56 days to be exact):

Feb 12: 11am to 2.50pm
Feb 25: 9.39pm to 1.38am
Feb 26: (short duration, unsure exact time frame)

March 1: 10.28pm to 11.13pm
March 8: 10.48pm to 1.47am
March 18: 1.48am- 3am
March 26: 8.05am to 10am
March 27: 1.35pm to 3.17pm
March 30: 12.49am to 1.25am
March 30: 10am to 11.20am
March 31: 1.37pm to 2.33pm

April 3: 12.45pm to 1.10pm
April 4: 7pm to 9.09pm
April 5: 10am to 11.45am
April 5: 5.54pm to 10.07pm
April 6: 11.17am to 12.20pm

In total, there were a minimum of 1,639 minutes of electricity disruptions in 56 days.

Another way of looking at this, is that we now have had (in the last 56 days), 4.9
years’ worth of average electricity disruptions going by the figures provided
by the minister (1,639 minutes divided by 332 minutes = 4.9 years).

Now, let’s take the federal minister out of the equation. What is the take of the local assemblymen and MPs on this? You basically spent more money getting elected (two Sabah elections in less than five years for heaven’s sake) than channelling the money to good use by upgrading basic infrastructure for the people.

And what about Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB)? Why aren’t you trying to fix this?

Lastly, what about the Sabah government? Where are you when you are supposed to be the guardian of the people (the same people that voted you into power). The irony is, since you came to power, our power supply has been having problems.

Who would have thought that a village 20 minutes away from the centre of Kota
Kinabalu would suffer this fate?

Shame on you – federal minister, state government, MPs, assemblymen and SESB. - FMT

Sabahan in the Dark (name provided) is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.