KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah government has introduced a new prepaid electricity card to help curb electricity theft by squatters, the state assembly was told today.
Its Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, who is also Sabah works minister, said that the pilot project will be implemented in Kg Forest in Sandakan together with Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), starting at the end of July.
He added that the Energy Commission has issued a formal letter dated June 15, 2022 to approve an independent power distributor (IPD) licence to Syarikat Village Support Services Sdn Bhd to purchase power in bulk from SESB to supply to Kg Forest for ten years.
“Power theft issue has been going on in Sabah for tens of years, especially in squatter villages. The problem starts when the local authority is not supplying electricity to these villages that have not been gazetted as villages.
“They are also humans – they find their own ways to get electricity supply, by illegal cable connection,” he said to a question by Dumi Pg. Masdal (Silam-Warisan) on the state government’s actions to curb power theft issue in the Sabah state assembly here, today.
The Lamag assemblyman further explained that if the pilot project is successful, it will be adopted in other parts of Sabah.
This will allow squatter villages access to electricity without stealing it.
In previous reports, SESB reported a loss of between RM20 million and RM30 million due to power theft and illegal connections, mainly in squatter areas.
Bung Moktar said other than the prepaid electricity method, the government is also conducting integrated operations to remove illegal cables involved in power theft, and demolishing squatter homes led by local authorities.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal (Senallang-Warisan) questioned if the Sabah government is planning to take over SESB, which was a plan approved by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government but halted after the government changed.
The minister said that he supports the proposal for the Sabah government to take over SESB and asked all assemblymen to have faith that he will ensure that the plan will be realised soon.
He informed the assembly that he had discussed the matter with the federal government, with the aim of ensuring that the new electricity body will be earning money.
“We will transform this into a body that is making money, because SESB has never earned money. (All we heard every year is that) SESB has been losing RM100 million to RM200 million each year.
“There is no electricity company that is losing money except for SESB. But we want to transform this and search for new sources (to generate electricity) so that we will not rely on diesel.
“If we have other sources, like coal, why not utilise it for the interests of the Sabah people? Sabah has to be brave to move forward,” he said. – The Vibes, July 20, 2022
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