NEWS & UPDATES
Pestech Supports Sarawak Energy's CSR Activities In Murum Resettlement
KUCHING, 8th AUGUST 2014, FRIDAY: PESTECH International Berhad, a leading power system engineering and technical solutions provider, contributed RM100,000 to assist Sarawak Energy in its CSR efforts for the communities in the Murum Resettlement villages.
PESTECH’s Chief Executive Officer Paul Lim presented the cheque to Sarawak Energy Chief of Corporate Services Aisah Eden in a simple ceremony at Menara Sarawak Energy here yesterday.
Lim said PESTECH was taken by the warm hospitality of the people in the area and it was only right that the company lend a helping hand in the community’s development.
“We have been operating in the remote area of Murum Junction substation building a 275kV substation to interconnect Murum HEP with Bakun HEP to the State Grid since 2012. Over the construction period, we have received warm hospitality from the people there and have even employed 10 locals onto our project team for the construction of the substation.
“Due to the remoteness of the substation, our project team had to seek the assistance of the local villagers to locate water source for without it, our operations would have been affected,” he said.
Lim said the good cooperation between PESTECH, Sarawak Energy and the people of Murum had enabled the Murum Junction substation project to be on track and scheduled to achieve first stage completion by end of this month.
“We are proud to be able to contribute to the fund and will continue to deliver our best to assist Sarawak Energy in building a reliable power infrastructure that will support further industrialisation and development of Sarawak,” he added.
Full commissioning of the substation is planned for Sept this year.
The Murum Junction substation project is part of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) as it will connect the Murum HEP to the Sarawak Grid and serve as a collector station for future hydropower generations from the planned Belaga HEP and the Pelagus HEP. This will increase SCORE’s power supply reliability.
Aside from the substation, PESTECH have also built a living quarter next to the project site equipped with hostel, canteen and recreation facilities for its staff and subcontractors and also a concrete batching plant.
Meanwhile, Aisah said Sarawak Energy has always encouraged its project partners to lend a helping hand in the development of the community affected by the said project, in this case Murum HEP.
“We are delighted that PESTECH wants to assist the villagers in Murum Resettlement. In whatever major project we undertake, we strive to ensure that the affected community’s wellbeing is looked after. As how we embed this as part of our corporate culture, we hope to share this sense of responsibility with our project partners too.
“We will work closely with the Murum Penan Development Committee on how best to utilise the fund given by PESTECH,” she added.
Sarawak Energy is committed in the development of the communities that are directly affected by its project developments. As such, it has streamlined its long term and sustainable partnership with the local community through four key areas namely education, environmental management and conservation, culture and heritage and community development and entrepreneurship.
For instance, Sarawak Energy is actively supporting formal education for the children of the affected villages by helping set up two schools, SK Tegulang and SK Metalun. Both schools now have in total an enrolment of close to 300 pupils.
The company has also embarked on the Murum Penan Literacy Programme which recently saw 341 Penans now being able to display basic reading and writing skills. This initiative is meant to narrow the illiteracy gap among the Penans.
In addition, Sarawak Energy is also encouraging the preservation of traditions and culture of the Penans in Murum by building the community’s potential in handicraft-making. This is part of the company’s sustainable development plan for the resettled community as well as to provide them a better opportunity of livelihood. The company has also started to purchase these handicrafts to give as exclusive gifts to its corporate guests.
Some of these handicrafts, namely the Penan carrier basket called the ‘Belanyat’, were also given to the corporate guests from PESTECH as souvenirs at the end of the event.
