Nyayang Angie could not contain his joy.
“Now we can use as many appliances as we want and can even have a freezer to store our food. We can use electricity round the clock,” said the 82-year-old tuai rumah (longhouse head) of Rumah Nyayang.
The longhouse at Nanga Nilau, Ensiring, a four-hour boat ride from Nanga Entabai, had recently installed a micro hydro-power system under iM Sarawak.
iM Sarawak is a social development initiative led by the 1Malaysia Sarawak Advisory Council (1MSAC) to help improve the quality of life of various communities throughout the state, in line with the principles of 1Malaysia.
Council chairperson Joseph Salang ( photo ), who is also the MP for Julau, had visited the longhouse yesterday to check on the system.
The project at Rumah Nyayang is the fifth micro hydro-power system of iM Sarawak. It was completed by the dwellers of the longhouse under the guidance of local contractor Belayong Jampong.
Up to now, the longhouse has spent about RM4,000 a month on diesel to run generators that provided it with only four to five hours of electricity a day.
The micro hydro-power system can generate 8kW of electricity, enough to sustain the consumption by the 18 families of the longhouse.
When reporters asked Salang how much money had been spent on the micro hydro-power projects, he said: “Let us not talk about the amount. We will provide the allocation if the people need certain kinds of projects.”
He also said that iM Sarawak had no similarity to the Impian Sarawak of the DAP.
iM Sarawak projects were community-based projects carried out by the people, private organisations and local individuals who contributed their time and expertise towards the projects, he said.
“Unlike ours, Impian Sarawak is more of politically-based projects by the DAP,” he said.
Salang said iM Sarawak projects were designed to bring long-term sustainable benefits to the people, focusing primarily on the areas of improving the quality of life, education and sports.
The 1MSAC was set up by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to advise him on the needs of the communities in Sarawak. It gathers inputs from the people and various government agencies to identify and propose projects under the iM Sarawak banner.
- Bernama
