FSM upset over IPP's generator repair delay

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah manufacturers are crying foul over the "two or three months" period required by an Independent Power Producer (IPP) here to repair a fault to one its power generators.Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM) said in statement Thursday that Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd's call for bigger industries to rely on their generators as part of mitigating factors to overcome a 95MW shortfall was "unfair' to businesses.

"FSM wants Sabah Electricity to explain why there is a need for maintenance to take two to three months.

"IPPs must be held accountable and transparent as they are providing service crucial to the state's industry and economy, they may also be enjoying subsidy from the government,' the federation said in a statement.

SESB Sdn Bhd should conduct an in depth investigation on the IPP hitch and closely monitor the performance of all IPPs to ensure their effectiveness in providing a more consistent and reliable power supply for the industry and the state, they said in a statement.

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FSM were responding the SESB statement earlier this week that power generation capacity had dropped by 95MW following a malfunction at a generator at an Independent Power Plant at Sepangar here since Dec 5.

The utility company had asked large factories to use their generators as part of the mitigation efforts to avoid load shedding in Sabah and Labuan.

FSM said the situation was of great concern especially for manufacturers whose lifeline depends on adequate and consistent power supply to produce goods.

"How can the affected manufacturers survive that long even with rationing (hope it doesn't come to that) and how about SMEs without backup generators?" the FSM added in the statement.

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Many manufacturers have invested heavily in sophisticated machinery and equipment in heeding the government's call to reduce dependency on foreign labours only to have to endure and bear all power-outage-related inconveniences and losses.

Sabah's industry and economy had been seriously constrained by the perennial power supply problem that drives away both local and foreign investors, the statement added.

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