Outstanding issues: SESB seeks Ministry’s help
Published on: Friday, July 21, 2023
By: Sidney Skinner
Taman Putatan Baru has been hit with multiple blackouts over the past few months.
SABAH Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) has enlisted the assistance of the Rural Development Ministry to deal with some outstanding issues, involving the infrastructure put in place at two Kota Belud villages, before it can begin supplying power to consumers in this part of the district.
The company is also trying to settle a compensation claim filed by a Sipitang consumer for some household appliances – damaged during an outage three years ago – as well as resolve the electricity woes in a Putatan neighbourhood.
A Kg Sogoh resident points to the electricity pole and wiring connected to his premises which is still without a power supply.
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A spokesman for SESB said poles and cables were installed in Kg Sogoh and Kg Botung late in 2019 under the Ministry’s “Projek Bekalan Luar Bandar” (Rural Electrification project).
“A substation was built to service both villages around the same time and ‘energised’ in September that year,” he said.
“However, we have been unable to energise the overhead lines as the work carried out by the Ministry’s contractor was not properly completed.”
He said the firm had yet to assume responsibility for the pertinent electrical amenities owing to this.
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“We have yet to receive the hand-over documents so that these installations can be commissioned.
“Our staff are presently seeking the Ministry’s input to establish a prospective date as to when the system for the villages might be fully energised.”
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Only then could SESB staff in Sipitang be accepting and processing applications from those living in Kg Sogoh and Kg Botung, according to the spokesman.
“This will enable us to begin putting electricity meters in the applicants’ homes.”
He was responding to feedback from a homeowner about the lack of electricity in the former village.
KOZ claimed that cables were erected and connections were made to several premises in this part of Kota Belud “years ago”.
However, no supply has ever been channelled to these households, according to him.
“I have enquired with the relevant parties about this problem but, so far, have yet to receive a satisfactory response as to why the poles and overhead lines were put up in the first place,” he said.
This wooden housing (indicated) was put in place years ago so that an electricity meter could be installed at this Kota Belud house.
Koz said many of those living in the Kg Sogoh had to depend on a generator to get by.
“We have to spend more than RM300 each month on fuel for our respective generators.”
He estimated that about 1,000-plus individuals resided in the village which was located about 15km away from the town.
Meanwhile, the spokesman confirmed that SESB had received the compensation claim from a Kg Tunggul Tinggi resident.
“This matter has been passed to the insurance company engaged to deal with such matters,” he said.
“The consumer will be informed about the decision of this ‘ex-gratia’ payment.”
He apologised, on behalf of the company, for any inconvenience caused by the hold-up.
CHEW of Sipitang said her spouse spent almost RM2,000 replacing, or repairing, the damaged electrical items.
“The affected appliances include a refrigerator, six ceiling fans and wall socket malfunctioned after we experienced an unexpected voltage surge,” she said.
She said her husband made a police report about the damage.
This document, together with a written request for compensation, was later submitted to the SESB branch in Sipitang in 2020.
“No action has been forthcoming since then,” Chew said. “We have not even received an official response from the company about our request.
“Earlier this year, I called the SESB office nearest to us and was informed the claim was due to be tabled at an upcoming meeting.”
The spokesman said the company was in the process of verifying the outages in Taman Putatan Baru.
“We are checking our records to determine whether these incidents occurred,” he said.
“Should this prove to be the case, then we will have to deliberate how best to rectify the problems in the neighbourhood.
RANJIT of Putatan said the neighbourhood, and Kg Sepanggil nearby, was hit with blackouts twice on Wednesday.
“The power to my home was first disrupted at around 7.30pm,” he said. “It came back a few hours later, only to be gone again at 11.30pm.”
These blackouts were one of many which the residents had been experiencing for some time, according to him.
He said the electricity cuts in the housing area had been going on for some time and couldn’t understand why SESB had not acted to minimise the inconvenience.
“Whatever action has been taken so far has not been effective, as the outages have persisted.
“I hope the company will come up with a strategy to solve our electricity woes once and for all.”
Ranjit provided Hotline with the times and dates of these disruptions. This information has been forwarded to SESB.
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