She said due diligence was being done and that technical matters formed the bulk of the issues that needed addressing.

“At the federal level, we have agreed to return SESB to the state government,” she told reporters during the SESB Open Day here today.

According to SESB managing director Abdul Nasser Abdul Wahab, the due diligence process would be finalised soon.

“There is no time line but the idea was to have a target sometime this year. We will leave it to them to make an announcement,” he said.

In January this year, Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin announced that the federal Cabinet had agreed to start the process of returning the ownership of SESB to the Sabah government.

It has been 34 years since the state surrendered its power over the company to TNB.

Yeo had said the whole process would take up to two years to complete, adding it would start with the setting up of two task force teams.

Chief Minister Shafie Apdal had also said the state government would form a special committee to detail the transition period in its takeover of SESB from TNB.