Kota Kinabalu: Electricity supply to Sabah’s East Coast has been fully restored after being disrupted when a tower owned by Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (Sabah Electricity) slipped following a landslide at Kampung Sarapung, Penampang.
Some 230,000 consumers in Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna, Beluran and Kinabatangan experienced outages over the past few days.
Sabah Electricity Chief Executive Officer Datuk Ir Mohd Yaakob Jaafar said the Sabah grid was reconnected at about 8.10pm on Wednesday and all affected users had their electricity supply restored by 10.20pm.
“Alhamdulillah, we are grateful to have successfully reconnected the grid from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan. All feeders were quickly restored and the electricity supply is now stable,” he said after paying a courtesy call on Head of State Tun Musa Aman, Thursday.
The visit was aimed at providing updates on the ongoing crisis management, the latest developments from Sabah Electricity, as well as introducing the company’s Chairperson, Saadiah Aziz, who was appointed from July 31.
On preparedness in the East Coast, Yaakob said Sabah Electricity is conducting aerial monitoring using helicopters and has stationed teams at every main substation to ensure immediate action can be taken in the event of an incident.
“The operations room at the headquarters remains active and will continue to monitor the situation from time to time,” he explained.
Regarding a Sabah Electricity staff member who was swept away by strong currents in Sungai Kampung Nuntunan, Apin-Apin, Keningau, he said the search mission is still ongoing.
“We care deeply about the welfare of the victim’s family and have sent company and union representatives to provide moral support. God willing, the company will ensure the family’s wellbeing is taken care of,” he said.
He added that Sabah Electricity has also strengthened its standard operating procedures (SOPs) by enhancing staff safety measures, including the provision of life jackets, long-range communication equipment and life base facilities to deal with flood situations.
