SANDAKAN: Three men were fined a total of RM331,000 for committing various offences under the Electricity Supply Enactment 2024 including illegal and connection supply of electricity.
Samailah Cuba, Zaini Mubin both holding a passport and IMM13, and local Ahmad Safuan Baharuddin, pleaded guilty separately before Sessions Court Judge Roslinda Razali to the charges against them on Wednesday.
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Samailah and Zaini have four charges while Ahmad has only two charges.
For the first and second count, Samailah was fined RM50,000 in default three months’ jail each while for the third and fourth count, he was fined RM4,000 or a month’s jail and RM25,000 or three months’ jail each.
He was found to have illegally supplied electricity to squatter houses through direct connections from low-voltage power poles belonging to Sabah Electricity (SE) Sdn Bhd without a licence, tampered with electrical installations, stole electricity supply and installed electrical connections without written approval.
He committed the offence at 4.45am on July 2 this year at Kg Pengiran Galpam, Mile 7, Jalan Labuk, here.
The court also ordered for Samailah’s passport to be surrendered to Immigration Department for passport cancellation and also for deportation.
For Zaini, he was fined RM80,000 in default three months’ jail for each of the first and second count, while for the third RM4,000 or spend a month in prison and for the fourth, he was fined RM30,000 or three months’ jail.
He had committed the offences namely, illegally supplying electricity to squatter houses through direct connections to power lines belonging to SE, tampered with electrical installations, stole electricity supply and installed electrical connections without approval at about 5.30am on July 1, at Kg Kagayan, Jalan Datuk Tay, here.
His IMM13 document was also ordered by the court to be given to the Immigration Department also for cancellation as well as deportation.
For Ahmad, he was fined RM4,000 or a month’s jail for each of the first and second count.
He was found to have illegally used electricity supplied through a connection from a storage hut belonging to Samailah, to his squatter house at Kg Pengiran Galpam, Mile 7, Jalan Labuk, here.
Ahmad also installed an electrical connection without the written approval of SE.
However, he paid the RM8,000 fines.
Energy Commission of Sabah (Ecos) prosecuting officer Andryeno Thomas pressed for a deterrent sentence, highlighting the safety risks posed by unsafe illegal installations to wooden structures and the financial losses to the utility provider.
He submitted that Samailah had been supplying electricity to 12 houses for about two years, while Zaini had supplied eight houses.
Andryeno said the syndicates operated by both men also had a commercial element, as they received payments from the illegal electricity connections they provided.
“Their activities were also unsafe and hazardous because the connections were drawn from roadside power lines, buried underground or installed using improper structures.
“The installations did not comply with the required specifications and were carried out without approval from the relevant authorities, posing a serious risk to public safety,” he submitted.
