Rural electrification schemes must meet native preferences

Filepic of longhouse folk enjoying their favourite tv programme.

KUCHING: Community engagement is important to ensure that rural electrification schemes can meet the preferences and aspirations of indigenous communities in Sarawak.

A recent study by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and Cambridge University in the remote Penan villages of Long Lamai and Long Kerong found that there was a strong preference for a community-based model, whereby the provision of electricity would be operated and maintained by the communities themselves.