KUALA LUMPUR: At least 137 Orang Asli villages across the country are still without any electricity supply, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (pic).
The Rural and Regional Development Minister said his ministry is aware of the issue and is currently conducting a study on how they would go about resolving the lack of electricity at these villages.
"The Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) is developing a plan to provide electricity through the grid to all Orang Asli villages in Peninsular Malaysia.
"But this plan will depend on a study of feasibility of the project, considering the extreme remoteness of the location of some Orang Asli villages," he said in a written reply to Fathul Huzir Ayob (PN-Gerik) on Tuesday (Oct 31).
Fathul had posed a question about the state of renewable energy supply, especially solar energy, in Orang Asli villages stating that most of these grids were not maintained and no longer usable.
In this regard, Ahmad Zahid said 701 Orang Asli villages were connected to the national electric grid and that only 15 were getting electricity from solar power systems which were not government funded.
"The solar powered grid of these 15 villages come entirely from corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects by non-government organisations and corporate companies which Jakoa has recognised are not well maintained.
"Jakoa will work with the Public Works Department (JKR) on developing solar hybrid power supply systems at these 15 Orang Asli villages who are currently dependent solely on solar powered electric systems," he said.
He added that Jakoa was also working on improvements to the clauses in the conditions when applying for future solar powered system development CSR projects to avoid such issues in the future.
