KOTA KINABALU: The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrant issues in Sabah yesterday heard that no one has been charged in court for illegal electricity connections at squatter colonies in Sabah due to difficulties in identifying the culprits.
Therefore, Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) had to bear the attendant cost, amounting to RM276,400 for the last five years from 2009 until February this year, to defray employees’ overtime and transportation costs in carrying out disconnection exercises, said SESB chief engineer Christiana Linus Majail.
She said disconnections such as these would normally take some time.
“We estimated an annual loss of RM3,717,720 during those years in five districts, namely Tawau, Sandakan, Semporna, Lahad Datu and Kota Kinabalu that had the highest number of reported cases of illegal electricity connection,” Christina told the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants yesterday.
She said that in 2009, SESB conducted a total of 110 operations to seek out illegal electricity connections at the five districts, (147) in 2010 , (149) in 2011 ,(175) in 2012 , and (110) as of February this year , adding that they had conducted integrated operations with other relevant agencies such as the police, immigration, water department and local authorities.
“To overcome power theft, we have two recommendations, which are, to replace the wires with aerial bundle cables and to lock the electricity feeders by the roadside,” she said.
She said the offenders had resorted to power theft after they are not granted proper electricity supply due to incomplete application process such as getting the approval from the local authorities, Public Works Department and Land and Survey Department to prove that the house and land belongs to them.
On another development, Sime Darby Plantation administration and foreign workers executive, Jakaria Nasiran, disclosed that foreign workers are more interested to have an income rather than worrying about the amount received, when compared to the locals.
“They are also more productive and hardworking,” he said, adding that Sime Darby does not practise favoritism as both foreign and local workers are given fair treatment and benefits.
He said they cannot favour the locals over the foreign workers for fear that they (foreign workers) would leave and abandon their work at the oil palm plantations.
To date, he said, there are a total of 5,523 foreign workers employed to work on Sime Darby’s 45,482 hectares of oil palm plantations, adding that they make up about 85 per cent of the company’s work force.
“As far as I am concerned, we do not employ any illegal immigrants to work with us, but I will not deny that there have cases where document-less people at our plantation have been arrested before. I can only assume that these people had come to work as recommended by those currently employed by us,” he said.
Jakaria added that employment are made either through agents or advertisements.
“All our employees are taken in through the right process where the recruitment fee, including levies, could come up to RM3,500 per person,” he said, adding that he hoped the relevant authorities would bring down the fee to lighten the employers’ burdens.
He said that currently, they are only allowed to take plantation workers from Indonesia and Philippines, and is hoping that the government would also allow them to source employees from other countries.
“As for social complications, some of these foreign workers may have been involved in activities that are against the law but these matters are usually settled by Sime Darby,” he said.
A total of 80 witnesses have so far been called to testify. The RCI hearing resumes today.