NEWS & UPDATES
Piling Works Caused Outage In Sarikei
Sarawak Energy Assisted Customers with Temporary Supply through Mobile Generator Set
KUCHING, 10TH SEPTEMBER 2015, THURSDAY: Excavation works by a contractor doing piling at Tiang Soon Height along Jalan Rendap damaged an 11,000V high voltage underground power cable affecting some 500 customers in Sarikei including a fuel station today.
Sarawak Energy was notified of the incident at 9.30am and a technical team was immediately dispatched to identify and replace the damaged cable. At press time, repair works was still on-going and estimated to take close to 8 hours due to the intricate process required in replacing the cable.
As immediate measure to assist the customers, Sarawak Energy took the initiative to give temporary electricity supply to affected customers using mobile generator set. "All the affected customers were given the temporary supply at 2 pm today." said Ms Memoria Anak Jangoh, Operation & Maintenance Engineer, Sarikei.
In this particular case, piling by the contractor was done too close to the cable marking area which was not in compliance to the safety distance of 1-2 meters away from the cable marking.
“We would like to remind contractors to be more careful whenever doing excavation works. They need to comply with the safety procedure. Not only will this avoid causing inconvenience of a power outage to our customers, it is also to protect the safety of contractors and their workers. Safety is what we are most concerned off,” said Sarawak Energy Vice President for Distribution Mr Lau Kim Swee.
This is not the first time Sarawak Energy had to deal with damaged cables resulting from excavation works. We have many similar cases happening in all divisions causing inconvenience to our customers.
One of the worst cases happened in Miri this year which left residents in Desa Bahagia and Vista Perdana without electricity for over 24 hours.
Sarawak Energy wishes to remind contractors to contact its nearby offices to enquire and inform on intended excavation works. Alternatively they could also call Sarawak Energy’s Customer Care Centre at 1300883111 or email at customercare@sarawakenergy.com.my.
Contractors must execute due care when working in the vicinity of any electrical installation or part of it so as not to interfere or cause injury or damage to any person or property. Failure to do so is an offence under the Electricity Ordinance carrying a fine of RM5,000 OR imprisonment for 2 years OR both.
Sarawak Energy shall reserve the right to recover all costs incurred for the repair works and any other costs, claims, damages, lost incurred arising from the non-compliance.
