KUCHING: Syarikat Sesco Berhad (Sesco) yesterday expressed its disappointment with an elected representative for choosing political grandstanding rather than working with Sesco to eradicate power theft in the state.
In a statement issued yesterday, Sesco reiterated its zero tolerance for power thefts as such acts are a crime and would endanger the lives of the thieves and others.
“We believe it is wrong for anybody to get mileage out of the issue, especially political mileage.”
“Statistics show that power theft is still rampant in the state, and we urge all parties to work together to resolve this issue. As of August 2013, Sibu registered the highest at 25 per cent, Miri 18 per cent, Sarikei 16 per cent, Kuching 13 per cent and the rest 10 per cent. This resulted in total annual loss of RM70 million.
“We would like to stress that we have not directly named any person in the comment to the media regarding the recent statement on power theft, as we have received a lot of queries from many YBs (elected representatives) from various political parties.”
On the allegation of being ‘high-handed’ by disconnecting power supply to its clients when they failed to pay the amount due without going through proper legal means, Sesco clarified this is allowed under Section 33A (3) of the Electricity Ordinance.
Under the ordinance, the licensee (Sesco) is allowed to discontinue supply of energy to the consumer if the amount is not paid by the consumer. Sesco, on their part, gives ample disconnection reminder notices prior to carrying out physical disconnection of electricity supply on the premise.
“We strongly advise our customers to approach Sesco for any billing queries. Sesco has Arrears Appeal Process in place to answer customers’ queries on any arrears bills. During the arrears appeal interview, customers will be explained on the arrears computation period and method and evidence of irregularities detected.”
Customer privacy is a priority for Sesco, and under the protection of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), these cases should not be discussed publicly or through any third party.
It also revealed that so far this year, Sesco approved 149 out of 254 appeals and this equates to almost half. Those that were not approved were caused by lack of supporting documentations to justify their cases.
As for the year 2012, 241 out of 254 arrears cases were approved for appeal, while the figures in 2011 showed the approval of appeal for 57 out of 129 arrears.
“Again, we hope this issue will not be politicised further, and all parties work together with us to fight power theft.”