By Elton Gomes

Tenants appeal for govt intervention as 1Borneo power supply cut again

KOTA KINABALU: Tenants at the 1Borneo Hypermall are pleading for the state government’s intervention after power supply to the Sabah’s largest mall was disconnected again by Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) yesterday morning.

A tenant, who wanted to be identified only as Chin, is hoping the state government can assist in this matter as it has affected their business.

“This is not our fault as we (tenants) have been paying to the 1Borneo management on time. So, why do we have to pay for their mistake?” he asked.

The disconnection of power supply was made at around 8.40 am on July 11 as the mall management had more than RM8 million in outstanding bills due for payment to SESB.

However, it is learnt that only the power supply to the mall’s air-conditioning source was cut off, as SESB had apparently not disconnected the power for the lightings for the sake of the employees working there.

This is the second power supply disconnection made by SESB after the first power disconnection on June 27 when 1Borneo Hypermall management failed to settle over RM9.3 million in outstanding power supply bills.

The hypermall management had since paid around RM700,000 leaving an outstanding balance of about RM8.6 million.

Reportedly, 1Borneo Hypermall management had proposed to settle the outstanding amount to SESB by making a payment of RM2 million by July 11, followed by staggered monthly payments of RM100,000 until the full settlement of all outstanding arrears.