LETTERS: The Austrian Embassy has sponsored the construction of a micro hydro power station in Kampung Siatu, a small isolated village in Sabah.
The plant, installed by the NGO Lightup Boreno, went into operation recently and is providing electricity for 20 households and communal areas.
The villagers are happy with the newly installed hydro plant and were finally able to put away their seven noisy gensets that were used before, said Ong Boon Keong, national coordinator of Lightup Borneo.
New Austrian Ambassador to Malaysia, Andreas Launer, is also pleased with the project, saying: "Austria is a global leader in renewable energy and has a world-renowned hydropower sector.
"We are very happy that we were able to make a small but meaningful contribution to promote clean energy and improve the quality of life in this remote community."
The implementation of the project had to be postponed several times due to Covid-19 but finally the dream of light in every house in Kampung Siatu became a reality.
Eight volunteers worked in the village for five days to install the turbine, the generator and the pipes from the water source over a kilometre away from the plant. They also trained the villagers to operate and maintain the hydro independently.
News of the installation travelled fast in the region, according to Lightup Borneo, and two other villages came to apply for their own hydro plants.
"We will try to build more as long as there is a need," says Ong Boon Keong.
Ambassador Launer congratulated the inhabitants of Kampung Siatu on the completion of the power station and thanked Lightup Borneo for the professional execution of the project under difficult circumstances.
He expressed his firm belief in the importance of small-scale, sustainable projects of this kind designed to bring electricity to off-grid interior Orang Asli villages in Sabah and Sarawak.
"Also in anticipation of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and Austria in 2022, I am happy that my government decided to sponsor this project as a symbolic token of the friendship between our nations."
Embassy of Austria
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times