At least 137 Orang Asli villages across the country still do not have any electricity supply, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Rural and Regional Development Minister said his ministry was currently studying ways on how to get electricity to these villages.
“The Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) is developing a plan to provide electricity through the national grid to all Orang Asli villages in Peninsular Malaysia.
“But this plan will depend on the feasibility of such a project given the extreme remoteness of these villages,” he said in a written reply to Fathul Huzir Ayob (PN- Gerik) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Fathul had asked about the state of renewable energy supplies for some villages, especially solar energy, saying that most of these systems were not properly maintained and were no longer usable.
In response, Ahmad Zahid said about 701 indigenous villages were connected to the national grid and only 15 were using their own solar power systems.
“The solar power systems of these 15 villages come entirely from corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects by non-government organisations and private companies that Jakoa has verified are not well maintained.
“Jakoa will work with the Public Works Department on developing new solar hybrid systems for these 15 villages,” he said.
He added that Jakoa was improving the agreements for CSR solar power projects in Orang Asli villages to prevent future problems with these systems.
