KOTA KINABALU: The top two management of ailing Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) came into the spotlight during debates at the special State Assembly sitting on Wednesday.
Datuk Junz Wong of Warisan (Tanjung Aru) named the newly appointed chairman of the utility company and the top executive officer of the company when he questioned their work ethics among other matters.
“As chairman of SESB, is there a need to appoint 13 new staff when the former only had one or two assisting him?,” he asked while debating an Enactment to amend the Energy Commission Sabah Enactment 2023, at a special state assembly meeting here.
He said the ailing utility company did not need such additional unnecessary costs but should focus on providing proper uninterrupted power supply to the people.
Wong also highlighted various other shortcomings within the organisation that included claims where cybertroopers were being hired by senior management officials to counter negative comments in the SESB and chairman social media accounts.
Meanwhile, he also alleged that the CEO had also withdrawn medical perks for SESB staff and retirees, where they are no longer allowed to seek treatment at private hospitals as previously allowed.
“We need a healthy, happy workforce to deliver SESB so is it wise to remove medical benefits from the staff which they all have enjoyed since decades ago?,” he asked.
Wong said as CEO, the person should be focused on delivery of his duty and business and how to keep improving SESB to be profitable.
He said the top officials should not be politicking and certainly not using SESB as a tool to defend their own personal image.
Prior to this, he said Sabah can take examples from Sarawak which is managing and profiting well from their energy and power supply.
Wong said the issues of debts in SESB and IPPs must be addressed, to reduce cost efficiency and electricity tariffs.
He also urged that load shedding and faulty power plants such as the Tenom Panggi Hydro Electric Station be addressed and solved.
He said it would not serve the state economy any good even with billions of Ringgit worth of potential investments announced with no stable and consistent electricity supply.
Earlier, Sindumin assemblyman Datuk Yusuf Yacob in supporting the bill also said that the passing of this bill would answer questions of why Sabah is faced with constant power supply woes among other things, and hopefully, solve the matter at hand.
He said the federal Energy Commission had never understood the plight of Sabahans because they are not here and both the peninsula and Sabah are divided by the South China Sea.
