Year-long blockade at substation stumps SEB
MIRI: The prolonged denial of entry to the Miri City 33/11KV Substation by a group of people claiming land rights over their land at Canada Hill is jeorpardising Sarawak Energy Berhad’s ( SEB) efforts to ensure reliable and safe functioning of the critical facility, which supplies the city’s central business district and the surrounding areas.
SEB in a statement said the area claimed includes the site on which the substation has been in operation for over 30 years. The group has been obstructing the duties of the operations team of Sarawak Energy’s operations arm, Syarikat Sesco Berhad, even denying access into the premises.
An extension project located next to the existing substation has been at a standstill for close to a year now. The new indoor substation was initially targeted to be commissioned in August this year but construction had to stop due to the blockade as well as a matter of safety to all.
The project is a critical component of Sarawak Energy’s RM1billion investment in the Miri Power Supply Reinforcement Plan to upgrade supply to meet rapid expansion and rising electricity demand here.
The ongoing delay is depriving Mirians of their right to a modern and reliable power supply they deserve. The delay has also incurred cost over-runs for this new extension project.
The state- owned energy developer and power utility has worked with the assistance of and support from relevant authorities to reach out to the land claimants on several occasions to explain the critical importance of the substation to ensure supply reliability to the people of Miri.
Despite continued appeals for their cooperation from all parties, the protestors have further resisted. They have illegally padlocked the substation gates, and this caused delay in supply restoration during an outage.
In August this year, supply restoration to an outage affecting Miri City was delayed for about four hours due to this blockade. The technical team only managed to enter the substation to do their job with assistance from the police.
Five police reports have since been lodged on the situation affecting Miri Town Substation.
Sarawak Energy reiterates that projects to modernise electricity infrastructure must be completed on schedule and on budget otherwise the risk remains of having a system that cannot cope with the growing demand of the state leading to inadequate power supply and reduced reliability.
“Sarawak Energy respects the rights of individuals and organisations in expressing their point of view but requests that this be done in a manner that is lawful and does not jeopardise the safe operations of its facilities and the safety of its personnel who are carrying out their duties to ensure reliable supply to the people,” said the statement.