SIBU: Water supply in several areas here was disrupted on Thursday after a third-party contractor carrying out water pipeline works damaged an underground 11 kV cable near Lorong Salim Stabau.
Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) in a statement, said the incident occurred at 10:50 am and also affected the Salim Raw Water Intake Plant, disrupting pumping operations and leading to reduced water pressure.
Syarikat SESCO Bhd (SESCO), the operations and retail arm of SEB, responded immediately and restored power to the water intake plant and affected areas by 12:00 pm using a temporary overhead line source.
“Incidents like this highlight the serious consequences of unsafe excavation near electrical infrastructure.
“In addition to power supply interruptions, damage to underground cables can affect other critical services such as water supply, impacting households, schools, businesses and community facilities,” SEB said.
Highlighting the potential consequences of unsafe excavation near electrical infrastructure, SESCO’s Regional Manager for Central Region, Jabu Ngumbang, urged contractors to exercise greater responsibility.
“Contractors must take greater responsibility to uphold public safety. We are always ready to assist in planning works safely, yet some continue without engaging us,” he said.
Jabu said that the contractor involved had failed to consult SESCO to verify the location of the underground cable in that section, even though guidance was sought for other parts of the project.
“We strongly urge all contractors to ‘Call Before You Dig’ and engage with us before starting any excavation works to prevent incidents like this,” he added.
“The public are also reminded that damaging electrical assets is a serious offence under the law and may result in financial penalties or legal action.
“Hence, contractors are expected to follow established safety procedures and consult SESCO before commencing any works near electrical infrastructure,” SEB said.
Members of the public can report outages or suspicious activities near electrical infrastructure by contacting Sarawak Energy’s Customer Care Centre at 1300-88-3111, emailing customercare@sarawakenergy.com, using the SEB Cares mobile app and web portal, or chatting with virtual agent CARINA.
