Sarawak Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh said it was unfortunate the power failure that affected the towns between Sibu and Kuching caused several hours of blackout last night.

He said the incident should not have happened because the country had plenty of hydro energy resources and it had given a negative picture to visitors coming to the state.

"I feel disappointed as such power disruptions occur many times but we have to face them. Therefore something must be done to prevent such incidents from happening again," he told reporters after presenting the Malaysia Junior Chamber International (JCI) Excellent Youth award here last night.

READ: Power blackout in several parts of Sarawak

The power disruption occurred when the Oya-Selangau 275 Kv double circuit tripped since 6.38 pm and power was restored at 7.19 pm in Sibu and in stages in other parts afterwards.

However the electricity supply was cut off again at about 3.30am today here and restored at about 5am. -- Bernama