Julaihi: Sarawak’s electricity coverage now stands at 97.9 pct
KUCHING: Electricity coverage in the state is now 97.9 per cent, said Minister of Utility and Telecommunication Datuk Julaihi Narawi.
He pointed out the Sarawak government aims for full coverage of 24-hour electricity supply state-wide by 2025.
To achieve this, he said ongoing efforts include increasing the number of locals who are competent in electrical work such as construction of overhead lines, cable laying, erecting electrical substations, and transmission lines, as well as service lines to distribute electricity to consumers.
“Now we have about 10,000 competent workers (in the electrical sector). Our target is to have 20,000 competent and qualified workers by 2030, in line with our Post Covid-19 Development Strategy agenda when Sarawak is expected to be a high-income society by the year 2030,” he told a press conference at the Centre for Technology Excellence Sarawak (Centexs) yesterday.
The press conference was in connection with a ceremony to mark Centexs becoming an accredited institute by the Electrical Inspectorate Unit (EIU) under his ministry.
Julaihi said electricity coverage efforts are ongoing for ‘off-grid’ areas in rural and interior Sarawak through solarbased green technology for projects such as the Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (Sares) to provide 24hour electricity.
To ensure safe electrical installation and adherence to standards that have been set, he explained electrical installation work must be done or fully supervised by skilled workers.
To obtain certification, he said a person needs to attend a competency course, which is why his ministry works closely with accredited institutions to increase the recruitment of trainees to participate in various competency courses in their respective institutions.
“There are now almost 10,000 competent people in various fields such as wireman, chargeman, and cable jointers in Sarawak
“So far, the ministry has accredited 30 institutions including Centexs and Sarawak Energy Learning Centre (SELC) as places to conduct electricity competency courses in Sarawak,” he said.
To increase the number of accredited institutions for more competency categories, Julaihi said his ministry encourages institutions to collaborate with each other to optimise the sharing of lecturers and training facilities in their respective institutions.
He said this includes collaboration between Centexs and Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), whereby Centexs is allowed to use the training facilities and syllabus available at the SELC, which covers courses such as Wireman for Grade 1 and 2, Chargeman for all categories, Cable Jointers, High Voltage Switching Operation, and Electrical Installation Contractor.
“This collaborative effort can help students obtain SEB’s internal certificate, which is Competency Authorisation Certification or CAC.
“This certificate is issued by SEB when students have experience working with the SEB system. Therefore, trainees undergoing training at SELC can be introduced to the SEB system and the issuance of CAC certificates by SEB can be fast-tracked through this collaboration,” he added.
Looking at the increasing demand for electricity generation systems by solar, Julaihi said his ministry has approved the syllabus for the photovoltaic solar system design, which can be conducted at Centexs and SELC.
Centexs chairman Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani said the institute has so far produced close to 500 graduates of the wireman and chargeman course with competency certificates recognised by EIU.
He said 19 Centexs trainees also recently received international certification from KNX Association Brussels, Belgium after completing a course in Smart Building Automation.
Among those present at the event were SEB chief executive officer Datu Sharbini Suhaili, Ministry of Utility and Telecommunication permanent secretary Jafri Lias, and Centexs chief executive officer Syeed Mohd Hussein Wan Abdul Rahman.