KUCHING: Rural electrification coverage in Sarawak rose to 95 per cent last year and is expected to reach 97 per cent in the coming months.
Sarawak Utilities Minister Datuk Seri Stephen Rundi Utom said 150,000 rural households in the state now have power as a result of rural electrification strategies since 2009.
He said the state government was accelerating the delivery of rural electrification projects to ensure access to reliable and affordable electricity supply for the whole of Sarawak by 2025, including for rural residents in the Limbang division.
"Nearly half of the population in Sarawak live in longhouses, kampungs or smaller towns in our rural areas. I look forward to the day when we can confidently say that no Sarawakian is left in the dark," he said in a statement today.
Rundi said the development of the state's Projek Rakyat initiative to speed up the Rural Electrification Master Plan 2018 had enabled the authorities to step up its electrification efforts.
"The state government has allocated RM2.37 billion to cover rural transmission and distribution projects," he said.
Since 2009, about 18,000 rural households have also been connected to reliable electricity supply in the mountainous Limbang division through the simultaneous implementation of the Rural Electrification Scheme (RES) and Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (SARES).
Rundi said that by the end of the year, another 200 households in the division will be connected to the grid, including 120 households recovered from projects left abandoned by a previous contractor five years ago.
By 2023, a further 866 households will have access to reliable 24-hour electricity to achieve full electrification for the entire division.
"With access to reliable electricity supply, our rural communities will enjoy greater convenience and opportunities for a better standard of living," he added.