Save Sandakan

People’s cries falling on deaf ears

Kota Kinabalu, Aug 19, 2009: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) told the government to get down to the serious work of substantiating its high-sounding slogans to salvage whatever little credibility it has remaining.
“The ‘People First, Performance Now’ slogan is sounding less believable by the day as the people are subject to barrage of empty promises,” said Datuk Richard Yong, the secretary-general of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).
He cited as examples of empty promises the failure of the government in building a new general hospital for Kota Kinabalu City , addressing the perennial power supply disruptions throughout Sabah and the amusing delay in the completion of the intersection in front of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Kota Kinabalu: There is nothing to look forward to on power supply in Sabah in the coming months or years if a recent briefing by the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) is anything to go by.

State DAP Vice Chairman Anthony Teo said the picture painted by SESB was that the electricity supply in the State would be "very erratic or more so in Sandakan."

"This will indeed be a major cause of concern and gloomy for Sabahans especially those living in the East Coast ÉI think this briefing is like (a) ‘I told you so’ (briefing)," said Teo, who is also the Sabah DAP Industrial Bureau chief.

The briefing he was referring to involved the SESB Public Relations Department, which spoke to several groups about the recent severe power interruption involving their corporate consumers in Sandakan, on Thursday.

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Popularity: unranked [?]

1. The Sandakan Chamber of Commerce urged the Federal Government to break monopoly and promote competition to drive “enthusiasm for improvement” into the district’s electricity sector
   
2. “We appeal to the Federal Government to look into the appointment of alternative Power Supply Agency to overcome the problem of power failures and shortages,” he said. “Regretfully, we again reiterate the imcompetence of TNB and SESB.”
   
3. “For 107 days since the end of April till now, we experienced constant power failure and shortage,” he added.
   
4. “TNB and SESB have failed the people of Sandakan countless times, what good is a monopoly organization which doesn’t perform but only damage the reputation of the Government?”

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Popularity: 2% [?]

KOTA KINABALU: The State government should scrap the plan of constructing coal-fired power plant once and for all as it contradicts the objectives of The National Green Technology Policy (NGTP), said Tawau MP, Datuk Chua Soon Bui.

She said she felt strongly about the objection by the Sabah folks to the proposed construction of a coal-fired power plant in the state, after attending the launching of NGTP by Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the Pusat Tenaga Malaysia, in Selangor last week.

In a statement yesterday, she recognised that NGTP is the way forward to implement renewable energy resources with sustainable solutions which minimize degrading impact on the environment……..read more below .

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Popularity: 2% [?]

Dear Y.B.,
SESB’s irregular blackouts in Sandakan is appalling and causing a lot of disruptions to our daily lives.
If SESB really ‘CARE’ about Sandakan folks and are considerate, they would have tried to minimize the disruptions by at least:
1) publish accurate advanced notice of blackout times and areas in the local newspapers, as they used to do before they were pushing for the proposed coal power plant;
2) STICK TO their advanced notice (if published);
3) have NO blackout in business areas during day time/business hours, and NO blackout in residential areas during evening and night;
4) have a fair blackout schedule for the WHOLE of Sabah, not let it happen to only Sandakan/Tawau/East Coast.
Many have observed that for the first 2 weeks of August, there was NO blackout in many areas in Kota Kinabalu/West Coast at all, but by contrast, there were DAILY blackouts almost everywhere in the East Coast. WHY is that so?! (If the malfunctioning power plant is located in the West Coast, this would be even more puzzling.)
Is it because:
1) SESB wants to PUNISH the East Coast for rejecting their coal power plant by making them suffer?
2) SESB dares not offend all the Ministers, YBs and VIPs who are living comfortably in the West Coast instead of the East Coast?
SESB should account themselves and plan properly, instead of trying to once again push for coal (see Conditions of SESB’s Sandakan Power plants, Posted on – 30/07/2009, http://www.sesb.com.my/news_releases_view.cfm?id=145).
Instead of recognising that Sabah’s power shortage will be greatly helped by the full completion of IPP Powertron (190 MW), SPR Energy plant (100MW) in 2012-2013, and the Kimanis Power ( 300MW ) in 2013, SESB have once again tried to direct our attention to the coal power plant, and once again used the idea of ‘transmission reliability’ as an support – even though:
a) the present East Coast power woes has absolutely nothing to do with ‘transmission unreliability’, and
b) the argument about ‘transmission reliability’ has been shown to be nothing more than a bogus excuse in support of the coal power plant.
(see “Bakun Supply Can If There’s a Will” by Daily Express on Sunday, 26 July 2009, page 19; http://www.savesandakan.com/bakun-why-not)
Given that Tenaga Nasional Berhad is directly or indirectly controlled by the Federal Government (as at 2008, via Khazanah Nasional Berhad 37.80%, Employees Provident Fund Board 13.66%, etc), and SESB is 80% owned by TNB and 20% owned by the Sabah Government, we wonder whether such unfair, disruptive and irregular blackouts are the policies and intention of the Barisan Nasional Federal and State Governments?
If not, then it’s time for both Governments to put a stop to this unfairness and madness of SESB!! After all, the people of Sandakan have given overwhelming support to the Barisan Nasional over the years. The people would only reach one — and only one — conclusion on the failure of either Government to control SESB’s madness:
That SESB’s irresponsible blackouts are condoned or endorsed by these Governments and that they endorse SESB’s push for a coal power plant in the East Coast of Sabah.
If so, rest assured that the people shall reply appropriately comes the next General Elections.
We call upon the Federal and State Governments to actively, seriously and earnestly seek the electricity supply from Bakun Dam, Sarawak, to satisfy the energy needs of Sabah. If the electricity can be exported all the way across mountains, forests and ocean to Johor, Indonesia or Brunei, why can’t it be done for Sabah? With the power from Bakun, we would not need any dirty coal power plant in Sabah.
(again, see “Bakun Supply Can If There’s a Will” by Daily Express on Sunday, 26 July 2009, page 19; http://www.savesandakan.com/bakun-why-not)
We also call upon both Governments to establish an Oversight Board comprising of elected representatives and NGO representatives in equal proportion who shall have overriding supervisory power at all times to oversee, monitor and penalise SESB for their incompetence, negligence, inactions and deliberate actions alike which do not fully serve the interests of the people of Sabah.
This is because the provision of adequate electricity and the public security in this regard are too important to be left in the hands of some selfish, stubborn and inconsiderate profit-maximizing private entities.
The People of Sandakan
cc:
Managing Director
SABAH ELECTRICITY SDN. BHD.
Wisma SESB,
Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman,
88673 Kota Kinabalu

Popularity: 3% [?]

Kota Kinabalu: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Youth urged the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) to start serious and drastic actions to quell the criticisms against it.

“What is happening now must not be let on. By not supplying sufficient electricity to the public, SESB is actually exposing themselves to legal suits.

“SESB could be liable for any losses or damage suffered by the general public which are attributable to their omission,” said LDP Youth Political and Legal Bureau Chief, Taang Hieng Yee, in a statement here, Tuesday.

He said he longed for the day when the electricity industry is no longer monopolised.

“By opening it up and allowing fair competition, I strongly believe the electricity problem in Sabah will be eradicated……(read more below )

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Popularity: 2% [?]

People of Sabah – Stop dreaming/wishful thinking: Using coal doesn’t mean your electricity bill will be cheaper!!

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (5347) posted one third drop in net profit before foreign exchange (forex) translation in the first nine months as it had to pay more for coal.

Net profit for the nine months to May 31 2009 was RM1.69 billion while revenue rose 18.4 per cent to RM21.32 billion, largely due to two tariff reviews in July 2008 and March this year.

Nevertheless, he said TNB will seek to review its tariffs “up or down” if the prices of gas and coal move likewise.

[ Meaning: If coal gets too expensive, TNB will try to pass the costs over to the consumers/ask the consumers to pay for it, rather than just let it eats up TNB’s profit margin. ]

Leo Moggie said TNB is able to secure lower coal prices in the third quarter at about US$80 (US$1 = RM3.55) per tonne. But it still had to pay a higher contracted coal price for the nine months at an average of US$94.3 a tonne…….read more below :

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah DAP claimed many power stations in Sandakan were not functioning properly, causing much inconvenience to the people.

MP Dr Hiew King Cheu, in a statement, said he learned about the matter following a visit to all the power generating facilities in the district aimed at understanding further the real cause of the power cuts, failure and shortage in the area.

The inspection team visited facilities such as the Gantisan power barge (2×20MW), IPP-Sandakan Power (4×8MW), Libaran Power (4×15MW), Kina Biopower (1×10MW), Labuk (3×4.74MW), Batu Sapi (3×8MW) and (2×14MW), and a jet turbine power generator (1×20 MW).

“According to calculations, the total output is 228.22MW. This is 30 per cent of the whole of Sabah’s requirement of 750MW.

“Just for Sandakan alone there is a total requirement of 220MW. Very unfortunately, this is not the real picture, because the Sandakan power facilities are in a very poor stage. “During the inspection last Sunday, the team found that most of the power generators were practically not functioning, namely the Gantisan Power Barge, Batu Sapi Station and the jet turbine in Batu Sapi.”

Hiew said with so many power generators in Sandakan out of service (seven out of 20) and a power loss of 98MW out of 228.22 MW, there was little wonder why the Sandakan people were upset over the power supply.

“The power cuts and load shedding in Sandakan town are getting more serious nowadays. “There is little effort being put to repair and upgrade the facilities, or at least there should be some concerted effort and plans to bring in new, big and efficient power generators to give Sandakan its power supply.

“The existing generator sets are worn out with low output efficiency, and might break down anytime É what will happen then? How long do the Sandakan folk have to wait for a steady power supply?”

Hiew viewed the situation as critical in Sandakan and asked who was to blame for the matter. It is the Government they should point their finger at. The Barisan Nasional government seems powerless to help the folk in Sandakan.

“The DAP is calling on these people to bring back the power supply to Sandakan, failing which they would be failing the Sandakan people who had voted them to their seats.”

Published on: Wednesday, July 22, 2009

http://www.dailyexpress.com.my:80/news.cfm?NewsID=66504

Popularity: 2% [?]

BRAVO to Greenman’s letter "Gold Is Coal For Some" (Forum July 12).

     By accusing me of re-branding myself as green implies he is against others joining environmental movement as if only he as his group has the sole right to be spokesmen and defenders of the issue.

     I have studied hydro power and helped build one. I never got involved with other power sources such as coal, diesel, gas or biomass. I tried solar cell on my roof but ended up wasting my money. I use the Kancil to save fuel and plant lots of green and trees around my house to reduce heat rather than for beauty.

     So, I have been a green engineer since long ago. I am collecting my pension and have EPF. So I don’t need to curry favour with anyone.

      I don’t need to write on behalf of anyone unlike Greeman who seem to be representing some gas-related businesses. If true some leaders see gold in coal, then Greenman and his group must be seeing diamonds in gas. I see environment conservation in hydro power. Sadly, there is no hydro lobbyist in Malaysia for me to write on their behalf, and therefore Greenman’s wild accusations are my entertainment…..( see more below ).

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Popularity: 2% [?]

A proxy battle royale is being waged in the forum pages of the local media by "several faceless creatures" on the options ahead for power-short Sabah.
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The most prolific output has been from letter-writers who sign themselves under various colourful pseudonyms. Among the most active are Greenman, Rumah Kayu, Green Power Engineer, Power Engineer, GGP of Sandakan, BD Golimbi, Calvinlo and Ah On.

It’s not known why SESB doesn’t make its stand known through its in-house Communications Department.

"The truth is that SESB has failed in its job. They had failed to plan and probably they had planned to fail," charged Muthu.

Extract from : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/108486 or read more below :

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Popularity: 14% [?]