New substations for these Papar areas
Published on: Wednesday, August 17, 2022
By: Sidney Skinner
The company’s staff put their back into erecting a new pole along the road leading to Kg Nuvoung.
Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) hopes to build a new substation near Kg Nagapas, in Papar, to boost supply to the village and is in the midst of trying to make similar improvements in the Kimanis and Kinarut areas of the district.The latter effort involves Kg Kuala Mandahan, Kg Biau, Kg Langkuas, Kg Lapasan, Kg Kuala Gusi 2, Kg Suangon, Kg Sungai Padang, Kg Titimboungon and Kg Kinarut, as well as locations along several roads, namely Jalan Kotud-Novoung, Jalan Sagang Pengalat Besar, Jalan Dewan Serbaguna and Jalan Pasir Putih.
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A SESB spokesman said voltage-drops had been detected in these various places.
“The increasing development taking place around the town, including the construction of numerous residential properties, has caused the demand for electricity to exceed the volume of the existing supply,” he said.
“We are putting together a proposal on how best to address this situation in the long term but will have to secure the necessary funding in order to implement this remedial plan.”
After the upgrading work, there was a marked increase in the voltage to the individual homes.
In the case of Kg Nagapas, he said this long term plan involved the possibility of replacing the existing substation.
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“While waiting to realise our intentions, we have carried out a load-balancing exercise in the village.
“This was done earlier this month to offer our consumers here some temporary-relief.”
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The spokesman said the company had also changed the size of the cables leading to the village, around the same time, to allow a three-phase system to operate in the area.
“Our staff monitored the incoming power supply to the village for a time afterwards.
“Prior to this upgrading work, the voltage had been about 200 volts or less. Once we had finished, it went up to about to 235 volts or more.”
SESB’s action follows feedback about the power irregularities in the section of Kg Nagapas, nearer to the Papar river, and from Kg Novoung.
The two consumers, who contacted Hotline, were under the impression that insufficient electricity was being supplied to their respective areas.
These suspicions have arisen because the electrical items did not operate at their maximum capacity throughout the night.
The spokesman said SESB attempted to stabilise the electricity being channelled Kg Novoung late last year.
“Towards end the 2021, we tried to split the load of the supply by setting up an alternate route for our transmission lines here,” he said.
“New poles were set up at strategic locations as part of this re-routing effort.”
He said action was also taken to prune the trees growing near the company’s cables to reduce the likelihood of any overgrown branches coming in contact with the power lines.
PETER of Papar said the electricity woes in Kg Nagapas had cost him the lives of many of his pet fish over years.
“In the worst instance, I came back from work, one night in June, and was dismayed to find that 30 of my fish had died,” he said.
“The oxygen pump inside the aquarium had gone off by itself while I was away.”
He asked around the village, if there had been any power disruptions that day, only to learn from his neighbours that no blackouts had occurred.
“The pump had been working when I left. I suspect that at some point the incoming supply may have become so weak that it failed.”
Peter said this was not the first time that his appliances had powered down automatically without him deactivating them.
“My computer has done this on numerous occasions eventhough the lights on the ceiling have not gone off.
“These goings-on have, from time to time, made me wonder if some unseen hand might be playing with the electrical switches.
“I sometimes fear that my house might be haunted.”
OLIVER, who lives in Kg Novoung, said such eerie thoughts had also crossed his mind.
He has noticed that his appliances have not been functioning as they should.
He said the lights in his house did not always operate at their brightest.
“Sometimes, they even blink, or dim gradually, before going off by themselves,” he said.
Oliver said the ceiling fans had also been acting strangely.
“I will set the fan in my bedroom to its fastest setting, before turning in for the night.
“Several hours later, I will be awakened by the heat, to find that the blades are spinning so slowly as if the fan was at its lowest setting.
On top of this, he said, his refrigerator occasionally vibrated violently.
“It makes an unusual noise like the compressor is about to go.”
He said these happenings did not sit well with many of those who stayed in the village.
“Those of us who have been prompt in settling our monthly charges, feel that it is unfair for these irregularities to persist indefinitely.”
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