Bau District to have 97 pct electricity coverage next year
BAU: Almost all or 97 per cent of areas in Bau District are expected to enjoy electricity coverage by the end of next year.
Tasik Biru assemblyman Dato Henry Harry Jinep said this can be achieved when Bau District gets a portion of the RM2.37 billion allocated by the state government this year and 2020 to accelerate rural electrification throughout Sarawak.
According to him, many applicants in Bau District had been waiting over a decade for their houses to be connected with electricity.
He pointed out the problem was mainly due to lack of funds received from the federal government’s Ministry of Rural and Regional Development ( KKLW) which previously funded the rural electrification programme.
“Now with GPS ( Gabungan Parti Sarawak) government, we don’t have to wait for federal funding. The state government is using their own revenue to provide RM2.37 billion for 2019 to 2020 to increase electricity coverage from 91 per cent to 97 per cent. This will include Bau District, which also set the same target of 97 per cent.
“This is not for Tasik Biru only but also the other constituencies in Bau namely Opar, Serembu and Batu Kitang. In Bau, we do things as Bau District not as constituency. This is because the majority of the affected people are the Bidayuh who make up about over 70 per cent of the population,” he told the media after a dialogue between local community leaders with Ministry of Utilities and Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) at Bau Civic Centre yesterday.
Present at the dialogue were Ministry of Utilities’ electricity supply director Syed Mohammad Fauzi Shahab and SEB manager for government affairs Abdul Baderi Samat, as well as Bau District officer Anielia Siam and Bidayuh community leader Temenggong Austin Dimin.
Henry said based on information given by the Ministry and SEB, the rural electrification scheme (RES) was being implemented through assisted wiring scheme (AWS) and additional or late applicant funds (Alaf).
He explained that under AWS, the consumer repays the costs of wiring through monthly instalment at affordable rates. As for Alaf, it is meant for rural folk who had been left out or missed out on the scheme.
“Alaf was introduced to equip rural areas with power supply. A sum of RM40 million is allocated this year by the state government for Alaf, and Bau does not want to miss out on this programme,” he said.
According to Henry, there are 3,936 RES applications in Bau District since 2007 until September 2018.
These comprised applications from houses without meter numbering 1,608, houses without service line (1,030) and houses without internal wiring (1,298).
“We believe the numbers will keep on increasing,” he added.
He nonetheless expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Utilities and SEB for conducting the dialogue to update the community leaders on the RES situation.
He was also happy that the Ministry and SEB had given assurance that their men will be on the ground to survey and do documentation for costing before works can commence.
“We are solving issues affecting the people in Bau by stages. The water problem in Bau, I consider is being solved. By 2020, we will have sufficient supply of water. We are replacing the old pipelines and have upgraded the water supply system.
“Now, we are working on solving the electricity problem. And after this, it will be on telecommunication problem in the district,” he said.