By JAY WHY
Largeparts ofSarawakwereplunged intodarknessSaturday evening,withapower outage occurring just after 6.30pm.
AllofKuchingandSibu,whichis500kmaway,appearedtohavelostpower simultaneously.RuralareaslikeLundu,Bau,Sarikeiandothershaveallreported blackouts, online news reported.
There were no reports of power disruptions in Miri, located in northern Sarawak. ItwaslearntthattheSarawakEnergyBhd(SEB)’sOya-Selangau275kV transmission line tripped causing loss of electricity supply to the southern part of Sarawak.
![]()
Electricity supply was restored in phases and expected to be fully resorted by 9pm.
How many times more do similar incidents need to happen before we really learn something from it? Since some parts of Sarawak are still without proper electricity supply, its time for the respective authorities to find solution to this.
We may treat it as a 'small matter' because it didn't take long before power supply was fully restored but there must be a proper back-up plan should it happens again.
The last time a Kuching to Sibu blackout occurred was last November. That incident occurred around noon lasting until late afternoon.
Sarawak Energy Bhd, which is the state own power company, has yet to comment on the incident.
With the state elections expected to be held within the next few months, demand for electricity will surely pick up from the day of the dissolution of the Sarawak State Assembly to polling day.
The utility company should ensure that power supply not be disrupted during the polling and votes counting. Otherwise there are bound to be cries of “vote rigging” by the losing parties.
Power blackouts are also bad for business as it causes companies and households to suffer millions of ringgit in losses due to downtime and perishables products.
Largeparts ofSarawakwereplunged intodarknessSaturday evening,withapower outage occurring just after 6.30pm.
AllofKuchingandSibu,whichis500kmaway,appearedtohavelostpower simultaneously.RuralareaslikeLundu,Bau,Sarikeiandothershaveallreported blackouts, online news reported.
There were no reports of power disruptions in Miri, located in northern Sarawak. ItwaslearntthattheSarawakEnergyBhd(SEB)’sOya-Selangau275kV transmission line tripped causing loss of electricity supply to the southern part of Sarawak.
How many times more do similar incidents need to happen before we really learn something from it? Since some parts of Sarawak are still without proper electricity supply, its time for the respective authorities to find solution to this.
We may treat it as a 'small matter' because it didn't take long before power supply was fully restored but there must be a proper back-up plan should it happens again.
The last time a Kuching to Sibu blackout occurred was last November. That incident occurred around noon lasting until late afternoon.
Sarawak Energy Bhd, which is the state own power company, has yet to comment on the incident.
With the state elections expected to be held within the next few months, demand for electricity will surely pick up from the day of the dissolution of the Sarawak State Assembly to polling day.
The utility company should ensure that power supply not be disrupted during the polling and votes counting. Otherwise there are bound to be cries of “vote rigging” by the losing parties.
Power blackouts are also bad for business as it causes companies and households to suffer millions of ringgit in losses due to downtime and perishables products.