Murum dam brings in positive changes to the lives of former semi-nomadic Penans

 By Andrew James

BELAGA, Oct 23, 2015 -  Three years ago, the semi-nomadic Penans were living in make-shift huts - no electricity or piped water to talk about or any other so-called modern facilities that the "civilised" world is enjoying.

With the construction and completion of Murum dam, their lives changed for the better.

 A night view of one of the longhouses at Tegulang Resettlement Area.

At Tegulang resettlement scheme comprising three villages and at Metulun where there four villages, schools, kindergartens and clinics are provided for the Penan community.

These are the positive changes brought about by the construction of the Murum dam.

The dam is also providing a 24-hour electricity supply to all these villages, thus allowing households in Tegulang to run refrigerators, washing machines and more without being limited by the previous 12-hour window of electricity supply.

The three villages in Tegulang are now connected to the main grid via the Murum HEP Environmental Power Station under a RM7million Rural Electrification Scheme project.

At Metalun, given its distance of about 100 km away from Murum HEP making it difficult to connect to the grid, the four villages will continue to source supply from individual diesel powered stations. However, generation time has been extended to 24-hours as more sustainable long term options are being explored.

Since moving, the communities have enjoyed access to better housing, roads and clean water. Twenty-four hour electricity completes the package.

 After resettlement, the community embraces the change in lifestyle from a semi-nomadic to a more settled way of life.

Sarawak Energy Group Chief Executive Officer Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit said, “Providing access to renewable, affordable energy for everybody is a major goal for Sarawak and rural electrification is a key priority. 

"We take this for granted in our towns and cities but it is very precious in the rural areas. We are delighted to work with the government to help light up our most remote communities so that they can enjoy the same facilities as their urban counterparts.

"This is doubly so when we are providing 24 hour electricity to our project-affected communities, many of whom didn’t have access to electricity before the resettlement. 

"We will continue to work with the government to strive to improve the standard of living of these communities,” he added.