malaysian community lights the way with
renewable energy
friends of the earth malaysia
*The community of Long Lawen in the
remote Sarawak region of Malaysia has since
2002 been the first inland Malaysian
settlement to meet all its electrification
needs with a combination of hydro and solar
energy. The success of the 70-family
community in avoiding the use of fossil
fuels is particularly impressive given they
were previously part of a village inundated
by the controversial Bakun Dam, which
displaced 10,000 people from 13
communities.
The community defied imposed relocation
plans, returning upriver to their ancestral
land. With the financial, technical and
administrative support of the US-based NGOs
Green Empowerment and the Borneo Project,
and with construction assistance from
Friends of the Earth Malaysia, they
replaced their diesel-powered generator
with a microhydro dam and solar energy for
electrification. By making use of small
streams with sufficient drop to generate
electricity, dam construction was
relatively inexpensive, resulted in little
alteration of river hydrology and did not
require further displacement of
inhabitants. The electricity generated has
also enabled the community to develop small
businesses in order to supplement their
incomes.
The project has been such a success that
similar efforts are being made in other
parts of Sabah and Sarawak. One Sabah
village is using solar energy to make
internet access possible in its elementary
school amidst the forest. Key to the
success of all of these sustainable energy
projects has been the involvement and
ownership of the initiatives by communities
from conception to completion.
