KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 (Bernama) -- PETRONAS, via its subsidiary, PETRONAS Power Sdn. Bhd. has successfully completed the pilot phase of the “Rays of Hope”, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme to provide clean and free energy to enhance the livelihood of the selected Orang Asli communities and the residents of community-based centres in Malaysia.
The programme is in collaboration with SOLS 24/7 and Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JAKOA) and aims to enrich the lives of the communities through free installation of solar systems at selected settlements as well as at orphanages and old folks’ homes.
All this while, the Orang Asli villagers in Kampung Ulu Piong, Kampung Tibang, and Kampung Tanjung Sepat would light up their homes at night with candlelight, bonfires, or fuel-powered generators simply because they do not have access to electricity from the grid. For some, this would be a struggle in their day-to-day lives due to the lack of a well-lit environment as night falls. Under this initiative, each Orang Asli house is given a 6W portable micro-grid solar system with LED lamps and USB ports. As a result, they now have higher visibility of light at night, creating a conducive environment to perform their daily lives - enabling their children to study more effectively and for the adults, they can carry on with income-generating activities such as handicrafts.
As for the community-based centres, utility expenses such as electricity makes up a large portion of their monthly expenses, leaving them little funds to cover other monthly expenses. Through this programme, the community-based centres are provided with a 10 kW solar system. The community-based centres will now be able to offset their electricity usage with a renewable source of electricity. The savings in electricity bills may then be utilised to support the operating costs of the community-based centres.
This ongoing programme will be executed in phases until 2025. For the pilot phase, 90 Orang Asli homes, 2 Orang Asli community halls and 4 community-based centres have been installed with solar systems. In the next few phases, the aim is to expand the initiative on a larger scale reaching out to approximately 450 Orang Asli homes and 83 community-based centres across the nation.
PETRONAS Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer of Gas Business Adnan Zainal Abidin said, “As a responsible corporate citizen and progressive cleaner energy solutions partner, PETRONAS remains committed to enrich the lives of the communities by bringing them access to clean energy. It is a great pleasure that we can positively impact the life of the Orang Asli and residents of the community-based centres. It is also my sincere hope that with the “Rays of Hope” we bring to the life of the community, it will brighten their future because we are making what’s previously inaccessible something that is accessible now.”
“Rays of Hope” demonstrates PETRONAS’ larger commitment to its sustainability agenda and towards achieving its net zero carbon emissions aspiration by 2050. Aside from improving the livelihood of the communities, this programme will also positively impact the environment. Upon completion of the initiative, approximately 747 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be offset annually whilst generating a positive environmental impact that is equivalent to planting 19,360 trees.
