KUCHING: Sarawak needs more qualified electrical contractors to expedite the electricity connection project under the Additional or Late Application Fund (ALAF) project.
Minister of Utilities and Telecommunications Datuk Julaihi Narawi said, so far there are only 20 contractors who are qualified and registered with Sarawak Energy and divided into 30 teams across the state to implement the project.
“But this number is not enough to handle a total of 40,000 new applications under the ALAF project across the state.
“Therefore, we need additional contractors who are willing to work and be stationed in the rural areas to help achieve the target of 100 per cent of the people enjoying electricity supply as soon as possible,” he said at a press conference after officiating at the ALAF Implementation Workshop in Sarawak here yesterday.
He hoped that the workshop could provide a competent contractor platform besides having SEB Certification of Authorization (CAC) registration without compromising safety and compliance with standard practices.
He added that so far the coverage of electricity access in Sarawak has reached 98.6 per cent but to provide all areas with 100 per cent supply was very challenging.
“In the meantime, out of the 40,000 new applications, 8,000 applications have already been completed and the remaining 32,000 will be completed as soon as possible.
“However, it should be noted that this is not the real amount because there are still people building new houses and so on,” he said.
Commenting further, he said the entire ALAF project required an allocation of RM230 million, and his ministry would apply for an additional allocation of RM150 million because the original allocation given in 2018 was a total of RM80 million.
“Regarding challenges, one of them is accessibility to the rural areas because we know the geography of this state is diverse. In addition to the problems of passing permits that are often faced when there are landowners who refuse to allow us to pass through their land to build electricity poles and cables,” he explained.
Some 140 participants attended the workshop, which brought together various stakeholders to find a comprehensive action plan for contractors and consultants involved in implementing the ALAF project.
In addition, it aimed to identify areas for performance improvement in ensuring that the project can be completed as quickly as possible.
