Kelabits bemoan idle windmills in Bario highland

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STILL WAITING: Arur Dalan Longhouse in Kubaan.

BARIO: Bario is also known as Land of the Winds but windmills built in the Kelabit Highlands four years ago have become a white elephant as they are not spinning to produce electricity.

The storage area has been broken into and some of the equipment damaged.

Folk of Arur Dalan Kubaan and Aru Dalan Pa’Tik longhouses rejoiced in 2009 when the four windmills were completed, including a storage facility where the batteries and equipment were kept.

After that, they waited for the windmills to spin so light could be brought to their longhouses.

“They waited for a month then month after month but nothing happened. It is now year 2012, four years after the construction was completed but the windmills are yet to spin,” said Sagau Batubala of Bario.

FOLLOW UP, PLEASE: Arur Dalan Longhouse chief Leju Ibuh @ Maran Ayu @ Mada’ Karuh asking those responsible for the failed windmill project to come back to Bario to enlighten the people.

Village chief of Arur Dalan Kubaan longhouse, Leju Ibuh @ Maran Ayu @ Mada’ Karuh wants anwers, saying those responsible for the project left four years ago without leaving a contact number or address.

Arur wants the authority to enlighten the villagers on what had happened to the project, which was part of the government rural electrification initiative under the alternative power supply programme of the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development.

This windmill project is the second white elephant after the failure of a mini-hydro dam built in Bario by the government a decade ago.

Longhouses are still dependent on kerosene lamps for light although those with generators can only afford to turn them on for a few hours a night, reverting to kerosene lamps when the fuel sourced from Miri runs out. Night activities in these longhouses are limited and folks tend to go to bed early.

Windmill and solar system to produce electricity to light up longhouses in Bario were considered feasible projects by the authorities.

The only bright spark in Bario is a micro-hydro project for Bario Asal Longhouse, which is sufficient to power basic equipment in the electrification drive of the Kelabit highlands.

The community feels that Bario has plenty of streams and rivers for micro-hydro power stations, which should be pursued more aggressively with the aid of combined funds for solar and windmill power generation projects.

The people in Bario look forward to a reasonable capacity that can provide electricity round the clock to spur the development of cottage industries.