LONG Lawen headman Gara Jalong has no regrets about rejecting the Sarawak government’s relocation offer to make way for the construction of the Bakun Dam.

Twenty-one years ago, the state government promised residents a brand new longhouse in Sg Asap, complete with 24-hour electricity and treated water supply, to persuade them to leave their village in Long Gang, situated on the site of the planned 14,750 sq km reservoir of the 2,400MW hydroelectric dam, which came online on August 6, 2011.

Also dangled were a primary school and clinic.

However, Jalong and 30 families out of the village’s 130 thumbed their nose at the offer.

“We didn’t agree to the government’s offer because they wanted to give each family only 1.2ha of land for farming in Sg Asap,” he told reporters at the Clean Energy Collaboration Forum in Kuching, where he shared his experience of using a home-made micro-hydroelectric generator to light up his village.

The main reason some families refused to budge was because they did not want to lose their 35,133ha native customary rights land, which included 6,166ha of “pulau galau”, or domain reserved for the community to fish, hunt, harvest vegetables and herbs, and collect timber for their longhouse, said the 62-year-old.

The group’s “stubbornness” turned out to be a lifesaver, as the state government then failed to keep its word on giving each family a plot for farming in Sg Asap.

Moving to Long Lawen, which is on higher ground and 100km further from Sg Koyan, Jalong and the 30 families were prepared to start life anew with no help from the state government.

However, in stepped the Sabah-based Tonibong, which brought the villagers electricity via its cost-effective, community-managed micro-hydro project, funded by Seacology.

The micro-hydro system, which has minimal impact on the environment, generates 10kW of electricity 12 hours a day by harnessing the power of small streams with a significant vertical drop.

Over the last 17 years, Jalong has shared with the world the system’s success, proudly saying there has not been a major power disruption since 2002.

The 30 families that moved to Long Lawen have swelled to 80. They are charged a nominal utility fee, which is used to pay for the system’s maintenance. The families pay RM2 per 15W bulb, and are allowed a maximum of six bulbs.

Without the micro-hydro system, said Jalong, “our life would have been very difficult”, but added that demand for electricity is increasing, given the village’s bigger population now.

When residents want to watch TV or listen to the radio, they have to use diesel generators, which are loud and not environmentally friendly, he said.

With the just-commissioned Murum Dam – the state’s second mega dam after Bakun – located near Long Lawen, Jalong hopes that Sarawak Energy Bhd will supply the village with electricity generated from there. – March 16, 2019.