KUCHING, Nov 8: Sarawak Energy Berhad has activated its preparedness framework for the coming 15th General Election (GE15) in support of a safe and smooth election.
According to a press release, this includes mobilising its resources with additional technical personnel on standby especially during polling, increased patrolling of supply lines, and conducting preventive maintenance of its facilities.
A dedicated team and hotline have been set up to provide better coordination for a quicker response and restoration on supply reliability issues over the election period.
Sarawak Energy has had meetings with the Election Commission (EC) and relevant departments for feedback on the electricity supply needs at the various nomination, voting, tallying, and other critical centres for contingency actions where required.
Sarawak Energy also reminded all election workers and involved parties not to hang or display campaign materials on any of its assets like transmission towers, electrical poles, overhead supply lines, and substations.
Sarawak Energy will remove the banners and buntings without prior notice if the situation is found to be unsafe.
SESCO chief executive officer (CEO) Lau Kim Swee said: “There have been cases of this happening during past elections where campaign materials were hung on our electrical poles and overhead lines which is both dangerous and causes outages.
“These facilities are energised with high voltages and no one should be near any of our electrical installations to avoid getting electrocuted or hurt by electrical flashovers.
“Safety should be everyone’s top priority and Sarawak Energy prohibits usage of its assets to display election campaign materials or political party colours.”
Lau went on to say that electrical flashovers occur when electricity ‘jumps’ without direct contact with power lines or conductors and can result in serious burns or tragic loss of lives.
He pointed out that Sarawak Energy has also notified all political parties about the situation so that they can remind their respective campaign teams to stay safe.
Reports and enquiries may be channelled to Sarawak Energy’s 24-hour Customer Careline at 1300-88-3111 or through the SEB Cares Mobile App. — DayakDaily
