Blackouts for days in Beaufort, Putatan
Published on: Wednesday, June 09, 2021
By: Sidney Skinner
.jpg "Blackouts for days in Beaufort, Putatan")
These power poles along the road to the village have yet to be handed over to SESB.
TWO Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) consumers – one from Beaufort, the other Putatan – have voiced their displeasure about the power disruptions in their respective districts.The former was upset by the lengthy delay he recently experienced in having the supply restored to his home in the Lumadan area. He claimed to have been without power for five days.
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The Putatan homeowner, on the other hand, bemoaned the intermittent blackouts in her neighbourhood, with the supply going off for hours at a time “almost every day”.
Both individuals provided Hotline with the time and date of the outages in their area, as well as the location of their homes. This information was forwarded to SESB.
A spokeswoman for the firm said it would have to verify these claims.
“Our branch offices in these districts will be informed about these electricity woes,” she said.
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“We will check our records to determine the reason for these irregularities, before proceeding with further action.”
LINUS, who lives in Kg Tinimungon- Limpotong, said the village had been without a supply since June 1.
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“The power went off around 3pm in all of the 10 households here,” he said.
The supply to his home still had not been restored when he contacted Hotline at 11.30am on June 5.
“I have not been able get a proper sleep because of the outage,” he said.
“Most of the items in my refrigerator, including the seafood, had to be thrown away as they have gone bad.”
He said he had wearied of contacting SESB’s 15454 – Customer Management Centre (CMC) – about the outage.
Linus estimated that he phoned the CMC more than 10 times over the course of the blackout.
“I placed my first call to the Centre shortly after the electricity first went off.
“I was informed, at one stage, that a damaged cable was to blame for the disruption.
“From what I gather, a private contractor accidentally dug into the underground line while trying to widen a section of the main road.”
The village is located off Mile 6 Jalan Tamalang- Along, according to him.
Linus said even the Chairman for the Village’s Development and Security Committee (JPKK) tried to ascertain why it was taking days to restore the power to all those living there.
This household in Kg Tinimungon was without power for 5 days in June.
Shortly thereafter, a team from SESB came to Kg Tinimungon.
Despite this action, he and his neighbours did not regain their supply after these personnel left.
Linus said he asked the CMC staff about this and was redirected to a SESB technician.
“I was made to understand that there was little the standby crew could do as the electricity system here was not under the company’s jurisdiction.
“These installations, including the power poles, apparently belonged to the State Government and yet to be handed over to SESB.
Additionally, the restrictions imposed on the staff because of the Movement Control Order were also complicating their efforts to deal with the outage, according to him.
Linus said this was the worst instance of an outage which he had experienced in the village.
“Blackouts have taken place on and off over the years in which I have been living here.
“Each time, however, they would last for a few hours before the supply was restored.”
Meanwhile, RITA of Putatan said the power in Phase 2 of Taman Bersatu went on and off several times for three consecutive days recently.
“I fear that the ‘trips’ might have damaged the electrical appliances in my home,” she said.
She said he had been experiencing these power irregularities for on and off since earlier this year.
Rita said her home was among five others along Lorong Linsuk which were beset by these problems.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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