How to get a 1-ton floating hydro to the river 50 ft away? Villagers of Long Pasia were joined by Lightup Borneo members, Professor Hew and Dr Che from University Malaya to do a `Gotong Royong(working bee), Ketua Kampung Mudin Sia, Pastor Philip Lalong, to give it a go-and they succeeded within a few hours yesterday morning! The floating hydro named Swan 3 is running now in Sg Matang/Padas, and produced enough electricity to light up some bulbs despite the over 1 month long unprecedented drought that reduced water level to a historical low! The floating hydro is designed for operation at a minimum water depth of 2 feet. Swan 3 is the culmination of effort by Long Pasia villagers who toiled for over a month to convert it from a timber frame to metal frame. In fact as it is the Swan is still in need of some final touches including some welding to completely finish the job. The villagers are keenly awaiting the return of their welding machines from the service workshop to complete the job-despite their need to start their paddy nursery from end of July. The commissioning coincided with the visit to Long Pasia by the 2 academics from University Malaya (UMPEDAC)-Prof Hew and Dr Che, who also took their short visit to deliver a talk on how to maintain solar panels to the villagers last night. Many villagers had been given solar panels first by Denmark and then by Malaysian government-but many found their solar panels not functioning with 2-3 years. The 2 engineering academics from the R&D arm of University Malaya pledged to support the floating hydro effort-boosting the morale of the villagers involved. They say they will visit Long Pasia again at another suitable time. Anyone interested to join future trips by Lightup Borneo are welcome to contact us at lightupborneo2013@gmail.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 14:32:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015