Cable thefts reduced to a minimal: SESB
Published on: Friday, May 13, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Cable theft has been reduced to a minimal compared to eight years ago, according to Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) General Manager (Transmission) Mohd Yaakob Jaafar."It is not as bad compared to 2008, during the Beijing Olympics when the value of metal steel was quite high," he said when met during an Emergency Restoration System field training here. "Now that the value has gone down, the number of cable thefts has been reduced but it still happens, especially in areas close to squatters," he said, when asked if SESB was still faced with power outage issues due to cable theft.
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He did not provide the number of cases reported but said among initiatives taken by SESB to address the matter was to install the anti-theft nut on their transmission towers. "When we install the nuts at the tower, it cannot be opened and that prevents it from being stolen, the cases are very minimal and chances of it occurring is less than one per cent," he explained. He cited an incident in 2008, where there was power outage when a transmission tower in the Universiti Malaysia Sabah compound collapsed due to someone stealing parts of the tower. "We had to call Tenaga Nasional Berhad for assistance because at that time we still have not acquired the Emergency Restoration System," he said.
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He also said erosion is another issue which could cause their transmission tower to collapse. "Since 2014, we have identified 12 locations in the State which have erosion issues and have taken proactive actions to address this by doing soil protection in these locations.
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"To date, we have already done soil protection in 10 locations, such as Ranau, Lahad Datu, Tawau, Semporna and several other locations in the East Coast. He cited an incident on April 21, where there was power outage for a day when one of their towers tilted due to erosion. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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