Govt urged to pump more funds to avoid power outages in hospitals, airports

20 April 2022

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin has urged the State Government to pump more money so that public strategic assets such as hospitals and airports do not suffer from power outages.

He made this call in wake of a power outage that had occurred at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (HQE) yesterday.

According to him, the power outage has forced one surgery to be stopped midway and pending transfer to another hospital where the surgery could continue.

“Sabah Electrical Sdn Bhd (SESB) has supplied three backup generators to supplement the hospital’s own generators.

“We also heard that the international airport in Kota Kinabalu, too, had experienced power outages, while industrial parks and businesses face a shortage of water supply, and hospitals suffer from leaks after rain that could have led to flooding.

“These are public strategic assets, and they should not face such power shortages, water supply shortages, or floods,” he said in his Facebook post.

Recently, the Federal Government has announced a near to fivefold increment of special grant to Sabah under the Federal Constitution.

“The Sabah Government is now obliged to tell us what they will do with all this extra money,” Chan added.

He asserted that the State Government can forget about retaining human capital or attracting investors into Sabah if the public strategic assets face constant power outages.

“If public strategic assets in Sabah were to suffer from such intermittent shutdowns, no one will be willing to stay and invest in an environment that is not conducive for business where even basic welfare is lacking.

“The purpose of having these assets in the first place is to achieve certain national strategic aims such as access to transportation, access to health, national security, an incubator for industry, and many more, all of which goes to the basic welfare of the people of the country.

“The fact that our government sees it fit to allow public strategic assets such as hospitals and airports in Sabah to suffer from power shortages, water outages and to allow these assets to shut down for a period of time, this shows that either our administrations are incompetent, or that the decision-maker does not even care about the basic welfare of the people,” Chan stressed.