KOTA KINABALU: Sabah's tariff hike which comes into force on Sunday is unavoidable but will not be burdensome, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said while the state government would constantly monitor the impact of this electricity tariff hike, he believed the increase experienced by consumers would be minimal.
"We will constantly monitor the impact, but I believe the effect is only slight. If one currently pays RM100, the increase will only be about RM15," Hajiji told reporters after officiating the Apas Balung State Religious School (SAN) at Taman Sawit Balung on Sunday (Feb 1).
He was responding to questions regarding the Sabah Electricity (SE) tariff review beginning Feb 1, which involves an adjustment from an average base rate of 34.52 sen/kWh to 39.70 sen/kWh.
The Chief Minister explained that the new rate was approved by the State Cabinet, taking into account the current needs in the state.
Hajiji said tariffs in Sabah were relatively low compared with Peninsular Malaysia and the state was only increasing it by five sen or 15%, which is not very burdensome for the ordinary citizens who make up about 70 to 80% of the population.
He explained that this was unavoidable because the state was bearing high costs for various factors and it was necessary to overcome these challenges.
He said the Federal Government currently provides an electricity subsidy for Sabah amounting to approximately RM700mil annually or RM3.5bil over five years.
"We cannot continue this way indefinitely. A small increase of five sen can help reduce the subsidies provided by the Federal Government," Hajiji added.
He said the State Cabinet agreed to the proposal submitted by the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS) and SE after considering the rising operational costs of power generation.
Earlier, when officiating at the school, he said he was impressed by building efforts which were completed in just three months through contributions from various parties.
Hajiji said this served as a beginning for the school's development, which will be followed by government assistance for future expansion.
He was also impressed by the school management's initiative to utilise Artificial Intelligence (AI), in line with current developments in education, making it the first religious school to use AI.
"This is the era we are moving into where technology is highly advanced, and this applies not just to regular schools but to religious schools as well," he said.
Hajiji said the state government also supports the school management's proposal to establish a religious secondary school to ensure the continuity of religious education.
Calling it an excellent proposal, he said religious secondary schools need to be expanded in Sabah as demand from the Muslim community is very high.
