NEWS & UPDATES
Miri Records Highest Tampering Percentage In Statewide Meter Inspection Operation
KUCHING, 4th AUGUST 2014 – Syarikat SESCO Berhad carried out a 2-week statewide meter inspection operation recently at seven regions; Kuching, Sri Aman, Sibu, Sarikei, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang. The operation included 108 meter inspection technicians and the auxiliary police. The operation this time targeted more on the high risk profile and repeated meter tampering customers in the categories of industrial, commercial and domestic.
In the 2 weeks operation, out of the total 3440 meters inspected, about 15% of the inspected meters had been found tampered with. The breakdown of the overall result of this statewide meter inspection operation shows that Miri has the highest percentage of tampering detection with 18%, followed by Sibu 12% and Kuching 10%. These figures signify that power theft activities are still rampant in the major cities and town in the State.
SESCO spokesperson said that in this statewide operation and the several operations before this, the limelight has been shifted to Miri. This is because Miri records the highest percentage of meter tampering cases compared to other regions in Sarawak, and of the recent incident cases that happened in the city. These incidents include a SESCO meter inspection team being threatened with a real loaded gun during a meter inspection operation, and a case of a SESCO meter inspection’s vehicle being vandalized at the basement parking of a renowned hotel in Miri city center during a meter inspection operation as well.
In a respond to this, SESCO spokesperson stated, “It is the Company’s protocol and policy to lodge police reports for any incidents occurred during and or related to meter inspection operation to enable police to initiate investigation and to decide to pursue the case in court if the investigation yields strong ground to charge. Our Company views the recent threatening and vandalism incidents on our personnel and company’s vehicle as a serious crime and thus has cooperated with the Police to provide all the crucial evidences and relevant information to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
SESCO spokesperson also added that for the gun threatening and the vandalism cases, the Police had acted fast in carrying out the investigation on both cases and one of the cases is already pending decision for prosecution in court by the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP).
SESCO will continue to work together with the Electrical Inspectorate Unit (EIU) of the Ministry of Public Utilities, the Police and other government agencies to curb power theft in the State. SESCO would like to remind the public that stealing electricity should not be taken lightly as it is a dangerous crime under the Electricity Ordinance Section 33(5) which carries the penalty of up to 5 years imprisonment or a fine of RM 100,000 or both.
The public can continue to report to SESCO any power theft information via SESCO hotline 082-443535. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
