Power supply for Sandakan villagers connected temporarily
SANDAKAN: Electricity supply to three settlements in the Batu Sapi parliamentary constituency was temporarily connected last Saturday, 16 days after it was cut off by Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) following the failure of the Independent Power Distributor (IPD), C3 Power or Pentagon, to settle over RM600,000 debt.
Batu Sapi MP Datuk Linda Tsen Thau Lin made it happen after she had a meeting on the issue with Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Maximus Ongkili in Kuala Lumpur on July 24.
A temporary solution was reached to enable power supply to be connected to the affected villagers.
The positive development was relayed to the affected residents by Linda who together with her officers were present when SESB technicians connected electricity supply to Kampung Bakau, Kampung Bonggaya and Kampung Sundang on July 29.
Residents were relieved as they greeted the decision with relief and joy.
The villagers were grateful to Linda, Maximus and the Barisan Nasional government for their concern to their plight.
While understanding that this was only a temporary relief, they hoped a permanent measure could be taken to prevent a recurrence.
The C3 Power company, an Independent Power Distributor appointed and licensed to distribute electricity to the three settlements, has been operating in Sandakan since 2008.
On July 13, SESB disconnected power supply to the company after it had defaulted in its payment to SESB with arrears accumulating to RM600,000 despite being given an extended date to settle the outstanding bills.