SESB solving Penampang, Papar supply woes
Published on: Friday, March 18, 2022
By: Sidney Skinner
Several shop operators at the HSK Industrial Centre in Penampang are unhappy about the blackouts in the area.
SABAH Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) is taking steps to improve its supply to a Penampang commercial property and Papar village to ease the recurring outages in both areas.The company plans to upgrade the low voltage system servicing the HSK Industrial Centre on Jalan Limbanak, in the former district, and to replace an installation on Jalan Simpudu-Kawang at the latter.
ADVERTISEMENT
This action was prompted by the outcry about the frequent blackouts which four HSK shop-operators and a resident of Kg Simpudu had been experiencing for some time.
The proprietors were unhappy that the disruptions always occurred during office hours, saying that they lost a substantial amount of business because of this.
All the affected consumers provided Hotline with the time and date when they were most recently without electricity. This information was forwarded to SESB.
A spokesman from the company’s headquarters in Karamunsing said it hoped to begin revamping its system in Penampang by April.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the work should be completed by the end of the month,” he said.
“The supply being channelled to our customers in this part of the district should be more stable after this.”
Action was also taken to prune the overgrown greenery along the power lines near the Papar village.
ADVERTISEMENT
He said SESB had conducted some repairs at its Mogoputih substation to try and minimise the frequency of the outages.
“Our staff attended to a ‘Fuse Link Feeder Pillar’ here. We hope this effort will provide some short-term relief from the power woes at the Industrial Centre.”
A spokesman for the SESB office in Papar, on the hand, said the firm had set its sights on changing the “double pole” near the transformer for Kg Simpudu.
“The existing cables connected to the ‘double pole’ are not insulated,” he said.
“We are in the midst of phasing out such power lines and putting up insulated Aerial Bundle Cables (ABCs) in their place.”
He said this work was being carried out in stages, with priority accorded to those areas around the district where it was deemed critical to have ABCs.
The spokesman said the company’s staff had installed a new drop-out fuse at the Kg Simpudu “double pole” earlier this month, as the previous one was found to be malfunctioning.
The latter had gradually worn down due to the repeated occurrences of a high current fault, according to him.
“The fault is triggered each time the branches of the trees nearby touch or fall onto the overhead lines.
“This contributed to the recurring black outs which those living in the area had experienced.”
He said SESB had since pruned the overgrown greenery and cleared the foliage along its cables leading to Kg Simpudu.
“Such preventive maintenance is generally performed every two to three months according to a fixed schedule.
“In light of what has been happening at the village, our staff has been asked to keep tabs on the condition of the trees and our installations here.
“If need be, we will endeavour to step up efforts to attend to the greenery and our equipment in this part of Papar.”
ROY of Penampang said the HSK Industrial Centre had been hit by blackouts on 12 occasions between December and February. He said four of these outages had taken place in the morning, with the rest in the afternoon.
SESB technicians in the process of replacing the dropout fuse on the ‘double tower’ in Kg Simpudu.
“I sell heavy-duty electrical items and need a supply to run this machinery at my premises,” he said.
“Without power, I cannot help my customers who are forced to go elsewhere for service.”
He said the power cuts had been going on for some time and couldn’t understand what SESB was doing to rectify this situation.
VIC, who runs a printing and packaging business, said he officially informed SESB about the electricity problems at the Industrial Centre.
“I personally handed over my letter to staff at the company’s Metro Zone in Tanjung Aru on February 17,” he said.
“Two months have passed and I have yet to receive a response to this correspondence.”
He bemoaned the added expenditure he had incurred in repairing his printing machines, many of which had been damaged by the outages
“Is the company willing to compensate me for these repairs, not to mention the losses I have had to shoulder since these problems began?”
Meanwhile, CHOW of Papar voiced his displeasure about the repeated blackouts in Kg Simpudu.
He said these supply woes took place on a weekly basis, with the outages sometimes lasting hours on end.
“I have been experiencing these power irregularities for years,” he said.
He said the nine other households in the village, located about eight kilometres away from the town, were also beset by these problems.
Chau said he had wearied of contacting SESB’s 15454 – Customer Management Centre about these electricity woes.
“The staff are unable to explain why these outages have been occurring for as long as they have.
“They can only assure me, in each instance, that the relevant section is attending to the problem.”
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
