The Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) has once again called on the government to scrap the proposed coal-fired power plant in the state as it brought more detriment than benefit for the state.

The party's Wanita chief Melanie Chia said that the decision to put off the project was only reasonable as Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin himself had said that the project was ‘not so pressing at the moment'.

melanie chia sapp sabah wanita 180509 Chia, also the Luyang state assemblyperson, said the revelation by the federal minister only indicated that the project was not necessary.

Last week Chin was quoted in the media as saying that the government was still looking for a suitable location for the project. He had also said that the short and mid-term measures taken by the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) were expected to address the power demand in the state.

Among the measures indicated by Chin was to increase the supply of electricity from other independent power producers and to bring power from the Bakun dam in neighbouring Sarawak.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had also on Thursday agreed to approve an immediate allocation of RM26 million for SESB to buy another 20 mobile generator sets, in addition to the existing 21 mobile generator, to increase power supply in the state.

Responding today, Chia, a former state assistant minister, said that she had also suggested similar measures last week.

She said that these measures were sufficient to supply electricity for the state without having to construct the coal-fired plant.

She urged Najib to intervene and convince both national power supplier Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and SESB to heed the aspiration of the Sabah people and scrap the proposed coal-fired power plant project for good.

"The prime minister must listen to the voices from the ground," she said.

There are better alternatives

Many Sabahans, politician and members of the public alike, are not in favour of the coal-fired power station as there are better alternatives.

The issue has constantly been discussed in the local media in Sabah since the idea of a coal-fired power station was first mooted in Sabah a few years ago.

The rationale for the coal-fired project is that it could solve the perennial problem of power breakdowns in the state.

However Chia and her party Sapp have been a fierce critic of the coal-fired power plant. Sapp left the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition last year.

Previously Chia had said that the coal-powered plant would create problems like damaging the environment and will affect the eco-system.

She added that the people also feared that the state's heritage, Danum Valley, which is rich with first class coal deposits would be mined once supplies from Indonesia or China become hard to get or when both countries are unable to supply in the future.

"Tenaga Nasional, the 80 per cent owner of SESB has not sufficiently considered non-coal options before embarking on the proposed coal-powered plant in the East Coast," she had said.

She added that since solar power, wind power and bio-mass were not yet commercially viable, TNB had a basic duty to the people of Sabah to invest in hydroelectric power and natural gas energy.