By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Feb 14: Sarawak aims to produce 20,000 competent workers for the electrical sector by 2030 to ensure it can deliver 24-hour electricity supply to users throughout the region, says Sarawak Minister of Utility and Telecommunication Datuk Julaihi Narawi.
He said presently, the 24-hour electricity supply coverage in Sarawak is estimated to be around 97.9 per cent with about 10,000 competent workers in various fields in Sarawak such as wiremen, chargemen and cable jointers.
In order to achieve the target, the ministry is working close with accredited institutions to increase trainee intake for competency courses.
“To date, the ministry has accredited 30 institutions including Centre of Technical Excellence Sarawak (Centexs) and Sarawak Energy Learning Centre (SELC) to offer various electrical competency courses in Sarawak,” he said during a ceremony to commemorate Centexs’ accreditation by Electrical Inspectorate Unit (EIU) at the said institution here today.
He also said the accreditation ceremony symbolised the smart partnership between Centexs and Sarawak Energy Berhad (Sarawak Energy) where it would “save cost” in terms of training facility and syllabus.
“For Centexs, they do not need to spend (money) to complete the facility to provide practical training equipment to run the courses while SELC lecturers can focus on training for Sarawak Energy’s internal technical staff,” he added.
For the record, Centexs has so far produced 494 wireman and chargeman course graduates with competency certificates recognised by EIU, and 19 trainees with international certification from KNX Association Brussels, Belgium.
Amongst those present were Centexs chairman Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani; Sarawak Energy group chief executive officer Datu Sharbini Suhaili; Ministry of Utility and Telecommunication (MUT) Sarawak permanent secretary Jafri Lias; Centexs chief executive officer Syeed Mohd Hussein Wan Abdul Rahman; and MUT director of Electricity Supply, Syed Mohamad Fauzi Shahab. — DayakDaily
