KUCHING: Vandalism caused a supply interruption in multiple areas in Petra Jaya on Saturday night (Mar 25).
Sarawak Energy said the areas affected were Medan Raya, Kampung Sungai Bedil, Bukit Siol, Jalan Astana, Che Buyong, Jalan Hashim Jaafar, Jalan Merdeka, Kampung Lintang, Arked Mara, Ava Astana and Astana Housing.
Powers was restored in most of the areas by 12.15 am with the first area at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka restored by 10.40 pm the same night. The remaining areas received power by 3 am, except for Sungai Bedil, where power was restored at noon on Sunday (Mar 26) after the cable faults were rectified.
“Upon receiving outage reports, Syarikat SESCO Berhad (SESCO), Sarawak Energy’s operations and retail arm, immediately deployed its technical team to assess the situation and begin round-the-clock repair works.
“SESCO had deployed mobile gensets to provide backup supply to customers in the affected areas, restoring supply to most quarters, with the exception of the Sungai Bedil area, which has accessibility issues due to narrow and congested access roads,” Sarawak Energy said in a statement.
A thorough investigation found that the root cause of the outage was due to a high-tension main cable that had been cut by vandals outside the Astana fencing during Earth Hour on Saturday (Mar 26) night.
“The high fault (excessive flow) current caused by the irresponsible act of vandalism resulted in cascading faults at two cable joints,” the power company added.
It apologised for the inconvenience caused to its customers.
Addressing the challenges of ageing cable joints, Sarawak Energy regional manager (Western Region) Nazry Abdul Latip said there is an ongoing plan to reinforce the supply to Petra Jaya.
“This includes laying new high-tension cables and installing motorised switchgears to speed up restoration. Ageing cable joints will be replaced through the reinforcement project,” he said.
He said Sarawak Energy is committed to ensuring swift and safe restoration of electricity supply to affected customers, prioritising the safety of their personnel and the public.
To achieve this, the company has invested significantly in technology, back-up supply, and infrastructure to develop a more modern, efficient, and reliable power system.
“Additionally, its technical teams are on high alert and standby 24 hours a day, ready for immediate restoration during both localised and major outages. The focus is to restore power supply to customers as quickly as possible, utilising alternative feeder or supply sources if applicable, before focusing on repair works,” he added.
The public can contact Sarawak Energy 24/7 Customer Care Centre at 1300-88-3111, email customercare@sarawakenergy.com or utilise Sarawak Energy mobile app SEB Cares to report outages to assist in speedy restoration of electricity supply or report any suspicious activities near its facilities.
