Federation wants Sarawak govt to reduce new electricity tariffs

MIRI: The Sarawak Federation of Chinese Associations wants the state government to reduce the newly-imposed electricity tariffs following protests from those affected by the sharp increase.

The State Cabinet had recently approved an increase of between 15% and 45% on electricity rates for the commercial and industrial sectors.

Domestic household rates were not affected by the changes enforced by the Sarawak Electricity Supply Corporation (Sesco) since April 1.

The federation forwarded a memorandum last week seeking a review of the tariffs to the state Public Utilities Ministry after gathering feedback and opinions from its members in every division.

The memorandum was sent to Minister Datuk Seri Awang Tengah Ali Hasan via Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Pujut state assemblyman, Andy Chia.

Awang Tengah, who is also Sesco chairman, said his ministry would study the memorandum before deciding if a review was needed.

He stressed that the new rates had to be imposed because of the existence of cross-subsidies which had affected the previous rates.

“The last revision imposed by Sesco was in 1982 and it was only applicable for the domestic and commercial sectors.

“Today, we are being affected by constant sharp increases in global oil prices, making it necessary for us to balance our electricity rates with the current situation and to eliminate cross-subsidies for domestic, commercial and industrial users.

“The state government had, for a long time, provided heavy subsidies for electricity rates in order to attract more investors to the state. We cannot afford to continue sustaining such massive expenditure for subsidies yearly,” Awang Tengah said after meeting the federation representatives.

He said Sesco had to spend a lot of money on other projects, such as hydro-dams, so that people in Sarawak could continue to enjoy reliable and cheap supply of power in the future.

He pointed out that the new rates were still cheaper than in Peninsular Malaysia.

Compared to other countries in the region, the rates in Sarawak are even cheaper, he noted.

sources : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp...159&sec=nation