Its distribution division general manager, Addie Ahmad, said Sandakan was among the districts with the biggest number of squatter colonies resorting to illegal power supply connections in Sabah.

These illegal connections were found at 33 colonies, involving 2,293 premises, in Sandakan. They are among the 200 such colonies found in the state.

“Integrated operations against illegal connections are conducted periodically by the authorities but SESB also carries out operations whenever needed.

“This is based on evaluations made by the monitoring team on the quiet,” he told reporters during an operation at the Kampung Disayang squatter settlement today.

Addie said obtaining an illegal connection usually involved connecting a main electric wire to 10 to 20 houses, causing a high electricity load and the main wire to heat up.

He said illegal connections could cause not only electric shocks but also fire outbreaks.

“I urge the residents not to resort to this. They can apply for electricity supply from SESB. They must first seek approval from the local authority and obtain the relevant documents.”

Addie said the residents may have not done so due to the land ownership status problems as they were squatting and did not have citizenship documents.

Sixty-five personnel from SESB, the Energy Commission, immigration department, the Sandakan municipal council and police were involved in the operation today.

The raiding party seized 432kg of electric cables at Kampung Tabah Baru, Kampung Disayang, Kampung Cenderamata and Kampung Lupak Meluas Darat.