Ruddy (left) presenting Kampung Dogoton’s surau imam with the replica of Petronas’ sponsorship, witnessed by Azrul (middle).
KUDAT (March 17): Petronas, through its subsidiary Petronas Floating LNG (PFLNG), on Friday launched its pilot project to uplift the lives of residents in three villages on Pulau Banggi off here.
Under the project, Petronas will install solar-powered energy systems at Kampung Dogoton, Kampung Rahmat and Kampung Semayan.
This is part of Petronas’ social impact programme to uplift the lives of communities around its areas of operation in the state.
The programme, carried out in collaboration with the State Ministry of Rural Development, will be implemented in phases, starting with the installation of the system at the suraus of the three villages which was completed last month.
This will be followed by the installation of the system at 140 homes in the three villages, planned for completion by September this year, and expected to provide clean and free energy to potentially over 700 residents.
Assistant Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ruddy Awah, who officiated the program at Kampung Dogoton, said the installation of the solar energy system is very much a welcome initiative by Petronas that will surely bring great benefits in uplifting the lives of the residents in the three villages.”
“Through the programme, they will have access to clean and free energy to power their daily lives and help them minimise their energy expenses,” he said.
Speaking to the media later, Ruddy expressed his gratitude to Petronas for their initiative to help the needy.
“Petronas is the implementor of the project but all the information and details are from the District Office which is under the Rural Development Ministry. Thank you to Petronas for choosing this ministry to be your partner of the project which is a good CSR project. We hope it can be continued as Pulau Banggi not only needs attention from the ministry but also agencies and GLCs.
Meanwhile Chief Executive Officer of PFLNG, Azrul Roshazli, said: “While we play an active role in powering businesses with lower-carbon energy, we are aware that this effort should also be adopted at the community level. With the system installation, the beneficiary communities will be able to save on energy expenses. The savings can then be utilised for other purposes.”
“As a responsible corporate citizen and a progressive cleaner energy solutions partner, Petronas remains committed to enriching the lives of the communities where we operate – in this case, by bringing access to the communities what was previously inaccessible to them, which is renewable energy,” he said, adding that the deployment of solar energy system was part of Petronas’ overall journey towards getting to its target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The program named Petronas Uplifting Lives is the starting point in efforts to extend a helping hand to those in the three kampungs who do not enjoy power supply, he said, adding that Petronas has completed phase one of the solar system installation at the three villages.
Phase two will commence in the middle of May and phase three after that.
Azrul pointed out that there are many future positive effects the program will have on the villagers who will be enjoying an additional of six hours of electricity supply from the solar system.
Also present at the event were Head of Petronas Sabah and Labuan, Siti Ayu Abdul Wahab, as well as representatives of the three villages.
Siti Ayu when asked if Petronas will consider implementing the Uplifting Lives Program in other areas in Sabah said, “we see how this pilot project goes first and will discuss the matter with the Rural Development Ministry.
“This project brings benefits to the villagers in the three kampungs and the students will be able to have more time to study with the additional six hours of electricity,” she said.