Demand better service from SESB — Watchdog
KOTA KINABALU: The people can demand Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) to improve its service and performance.
Warisan Watchdog team reminded that SESB and other State agencies such as the Water Department are unsympathetic when it comes to outstanding bill.
“No discount or rebate whenever blackout happened. So by the same token, the people and its representatives can demand service and performance from SESB,” the team said in a statement on Wednesday in reply to Sabah West Coast Smart Consumers Association president David Chan who in a statement said that it was unfair to continuously blame utility company SESB for all the power disruptions in the state.
The team also mentioned that SESB is a state public utilities company partly owned by the government of Sabah and the State is taking over SESB soon.
“A responsible, transparent and accountable administration should be instilled from now,” the team said.
At the same time, it claimed the chairman is politically appointed too so opposition have the locus standi to continue demanding better service from SESB
“The Warisan Watchdog at the same time emphatises the technical team as they are not headed with wise management and chairman. The recent shutdown of two independent power producers (IPPs) is a manifestation that IPP should not be continued but rather SESB takes control of the generation. One should note that the GRS government recently announced a new IPP has been awarded contract namely Ranhill Utilities.
“The GRS government should instead push harder on renewable energy and expediously build up the Ulu Padas hydroelectric project which can generate 187 MW, significantly helping the electricity problem,” the team said.
Chan had earlier said that it is not fair for politicians to condemn everything instead of working with the government to seek solutions.
“They should come up with good suggestions to address issues, not condemn each other because it doesn’t work at the end of the day,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
His statement comes after state opposition party Warisan set up a watchdog to keep tabs on SESB amid daily concerns over insufficient power supply in the state.
The outfit, called the Sabah Electricity Watchdog (SEW), will be headed by Sri Tanjung assemblyman Justin Wong who has been appointed to comment on such problems.
SEW’s objective is to see that electricity consumers and investors receive value for money in terms of power supply and services rendered.
Wong said the service provided by SESB to the people of Sabah is below the required standard and not on par with similar major utilities in Peninsular Malaysia.
On this, Chan said SESB staff and management have been putting a lot of effort in rectifying power supply problems in the state.
“As we are all aware, SESB recently saw two IPPs being shut down for maintenance and repair works,” he said, adding that SESB has been closing monitoring the works and power supply.
He said the grid system was restored earlier than scheduled although the works conducted were complicated and strenuous.
“We should praise the technical teams for their good work. Excessive criticism is a discouragement and disappointment to the workers,” said Chan. We know SESB handles high voltage matters day and night, during blackouts, even in heavy rain and thunderstorms,” he said.
He said such workers risked their lives just to ensure that Sabahans get the best services.
He sympathises with the workers and their families, and hopes that efforts to stabilise and provide more power supply to the people can be implemented soon.
These include the repair works on the Tenom hydroelectric power plant, provision of more solar power plants and other renewable energy sources, he said.