KUCHING: The two power outages to have hit the rural towns of Roban and Saratok in the central part of the state on August 24 were due to its damaged underground cables caused by excavation work and a lightning strike, said Sarawak Energy Bhd.
Residents in the two areas also experienced communication disruption as the outages also caused a power cut at a Sacofa telecommunication tower servicing the location.
In a media statement, SEB said excavation work was suspected to have caused the first cable fault incident which disrupted power supply to the areas of Kwong Ming Road, Selalang, Sebangkoi and Roban at 11.44am on Aug 24.
Its operations arm, Syarikat Sesco Bhd, dispatched its technical team to resolve the issue upon receiving reports on the incident.
Power supply was restored in Saratok and Roban by 2.05pm, and the outlying areas, including the Sacofa telecommunication tower, at 3.43pm the same day.
Meanwhile, repair work at Sebangkoi Hill was held up by adverse weather and it was only completed by 5.15am two days later on Aug 26.The second reported outage involved a lightning arrester at 8.21pm, it said.
A customer in Roban reported experiencing low voltage in the Sg Paoh area.
Sesco's technical team went to site and quickly identified the issue, which had affected power supply to Saratok, Roban and Kabong.
An emergency shutdown was conducted at 10.40pm to facilitate repair work, and power was only fully restored at around 12.34am.
Sarawak Energy's General Manager for Rural Electrification Nazry Abdul Latip said despite the outages, SEB remained committed to enhancing the reliability and efficiency of its power system.