State Govt cannot be a standby bailor: CM
Published on: Sunday, July 15, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: The State Government reiterated its stand not to intervene in the current predicament between 1Borneo Hypermall and Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (Sesb) over non-payment of electricity arrears amounting to RM8.6 million after RM700,000 was paid earlier.Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (pic) said this is to prevent a culture where the State Government has to jump in and rescue those entities that are facing problems like settling their bills or debts."I have indicated that we must have a culture to ensure when they do business, let the market forces prevail. ADVERTISEMENT "This is crucial for us…as we cannot intervene every now and then when some entities face problems, the State Government has to come in and salvage them."What concerns me, at the end of the day, SESB might not have enough money to even provide electricity to the State. When this happens, everybody would suffer and not only 1Borneo," he said.Speaking to reporters, Saturday, Shafie said it is imperative for everybody to adhere to such culture and the problem faced by the hypermall and the utility company is not new but a longstanding one that should be addressed and settled earlier.He said the involved parties should have settled the outstanding bills and arrears before it ended in the present situation.ADVERTISEMENT "I think it is time for them to sit down together and amicably resolve the issue without asking the State Government to intervene."I know it is painful to the tenants especially those small retailers where they may have to close shop.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Again, my advice to everyone is to sit down and discuss the issues as well as resolving it as soon as possible," he said.Shafie said if the government step in, then it would mean opening the floodgates where every problem faced by every individual in Sabah would ask the government to help clearing their problems.On June 25, SESB threatened to cut power supply of 1Borneo Hypermall after it failed to settle debts of RM9.3 million which had accumulated for over a year. SESB disconnected the power supply at the mall about 8am on June 26 and a source from the tenants that only the power to the chillers was cut and no air-conditioning was available. However, it was reported that SESB restored supply about noon the same day after the management of the hypermall settled its current bill of about RM700,000.On July 11, SESB has to disconnect supply after the hypermall management failed to settle the balance of the longstanding power bills amounting to RM8.6 million.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
On Friday, the paper reported that State Trade and Industrial Assistant Minister Azhar Matusin who is also Karambunai assemblyman has pleaded, on behalf of the hypermall tenants, to SESB to reduce the first payment of instalments from RM5 million to RM3 million.He said negotiations with SESB are not on the total outstanding amount but the first instalment payment for arrears, which SESB has yet to agree to such arrangement. - Hayati Dzulkifli