Abdul Razib (left) and Abdul Nasser exchanging a plaque as a symbolic of ECoS’ takeover during the handover ceremony.
KOTA KINABALU (Jan 3): The Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS) officially took over regulatory authority of the state’s electricity supply from the Energy Commission (EC) in a handover ceremony at Plaza Shell here on Wednesday.
EC chief executive officer Dato Ir Ts Abdul Razib Dawood said this regulatory authority covers economic, technical, and electrical safety.
“EC is confident that ECoS is fully prepared to take over the regulation of electricity supply in Sabah and will continue to provide support when necessary, and the two parties will continue to work together.
“EC will also open an office at Labuan to ensure the regulation of electricity supply on the island runs smoothly, following the decision to maintain the supply there under the Federal Government,” he said during the ceremony.
Abdul Razib said planning and preparations for the handover had actually started over two years ago to ensure that ECoS would be able to take over the functions and duties of the EC.
He said for this purpose, several knowledge sharing programmes such as shadow training, attachment and information sharing programs as well as ST-ECoS knowledge transfer workshop sessions have also been conducted.
In addition, he said the handover of information technology, software and documents were also implemented, in addition to the absorption of several EC officers into ECoS.
“Thorough preparation is important to ensure that there are no interruptions in supply or operations experienced by users, license holders and the industry in Sabah following the change of hands,” he said.
ECoS chief executive officer Datuk Ir Abdul Nasser Abdul Wahid said the takeover process is actually a form of adaptation with only minor changes while taking into account the current situation in Sabah, and there are no drastic changes to be made to ECoS as of now.
He said even though ECoS had taken over the regulatory authority of power supply in the state from EC, the two parties would continue to cooperate in sharing thoughts and ideas to comprehensively solve electricity supply issues in Sabah and Labuan.
Abdul Nasser also expressed his gratitude to the Federal Government for carrying out diplomatic discussions with the State Government and making preparations to facilitate the handover.
“I would also like to inform the public that we will upload copies of the related gazetted enactments, regulations and guidelines on our website at http://ecos.gov.my/.
“We will also prepare a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section to answer anticipated questions to make it easier to obtain the relevant information and to provide more details to those who require them,” he said.
Abdul Nasser added that one of ECoS’ core focuses is to improve the competency of Sabahans in the electricity supply industry, and it had carried out a recruitment of talented and experienced locals into the commision last year.
He said among the Sabahans recruited were from Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), Sabah Energy Corporation (SEC), Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia (SEDA Malaysia) and EC.
Currently, he said ECoS comprises almost 100 percent Sabahans.
“Of the 90 posts provided for ECoS last year, more than 70 have been filled, including 10 critical posts. We believe this number would be enough for our operations considering it has also absorbed eight local personnel from EC.
“We not only want to create more ecosystems of competency in Sabah but also more pragmatic and progressive ones towards increasing Sabah’s capability in the electricity and gas supplies industries,” he said.
Any party that requires further clarification on any matter regarding the regulation of electricity supply in Sabah may also contact ECoS via their email at careline@ecos.gov.my or WhatsApp at +6088-205 774.