KOTA KINABALU – Sabahans have taken to social media to express their frustrations over several electricity supply disruptions, even dubbing Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) as “Sabah Elektrik Selalu Blackout” (Sabah electricity always blacking out).
Disruptions occurred on Tuesday and yesterday, between 4pm and 10pm, in various parts of Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Putatan.
Tuesday appeared to be the worst with brownouts or electricity reduction in the three districts, as well as in Labuan, Tambunan, Tawau, Beaufort, Kota Belud, Ranau, Kunak, Lahad Datu and Sandakan.
More than 800,000 people were affected by the outages.
The public anger is compounded by the state’s current water crisis over two years, with daily rationing until Sabah completes construction of its Urgent Water Supply Scheme (UWSS) by August.
Some complainants also branded SESB as “Sabah Elektrik Selalu Blackout” as well as no one picking up the utility hotline during the outages.
“Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd has a lot of explaining to do, please don’t give us half-baked excuses and be truthful about the main reason for these power outages,” said a netizen who wanted to remain anonymous.
Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin also claimed last night’s disruption affected the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, as well as the city’s main hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
However, the two premises had backup generators to keep operations running.
Sabah Health Director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin said the outage lasted from 6.16pm to 7pm and some wards had to run on backup power until the main power supply was fully restored.
SESB said, in a statement last night, that the power disruption on May 16 was due to a technical fault in one of its main substations, causing a trip and the state grid to lose 200MW.
On May 17, it said disruptions happened along the high-voltage transmission lines, causing outages in Putatan, Penampang and Kota Kinabalu.
Earlier today, Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew dismissed the outages as a crisis, saying it only happened for two days.
Gabungan Rakyat Sabah information chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai in response to the political attacks over the issue advised Sabahans to practise caution and not be swayed by the opposition’s attempt to solely blame Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor on the ongoing power and water problems afflicting Sabah.
“The opposition’s swift finger-pointing and attempts to lay the blame solely on the chief minister are political in nature. They, too, had previously led the state, and they are well familiar with the challenges.
“It is crucial to acknowledge the continuous significant investments and initiatives undertaken by the current administration to improve Sabah’s infrastructure and ensure a reliable supply of essential utilities.”
He added that the recent commitment indicated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to aid in resolving Sabah’s water supply issue reflects the federal government's positive stance towards Hajiji’s leadership.
Joniston was referring to Anwar’s pledge to come to Sabah to personally look into the two problems affecting Sabahans.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Shahelmy Yahya, also state public works minister, is expected to visit SESB’s Sabah Load Despatch Centre in Penampang tomorrow. – The Vibes, May 18, 2023
