Here’s a modern-day folk hero.

Hamid Jasmin could’ve remained as anonymous as any villager in the hinterlands of Sabah, if not for his deeds being reported in the media.

Rather than waiting around for the authorities to get cracking in supplying electricity to his village, Kampung Libang Laut of Tambunan, he went one better: building a mini hydroelectric power plant (hygen) so that his village can enjoy 24-hour electricity, with enough power to run even fridges.

He did it with several thousand ringgit out of his own pocket, not a small amount.

He made 2 generators: the first one took 4 months to build. The second was completed late 2004.

He used scrap metal for the water wheel and a discarded gear box for the water wheel speed controller. Only the dynamo was bought.

The original plant

Perhaps not so impressive at the face of it, but this is a farmer, SRP (equivalent to PMR) dropout with 6 kids in tow and devoid of any formal training in engineering. The only experience closest to building hydro generators he ever had was being a mechanic with a logging company several years in the past.

His feat enabled 16 houses to enjoy electricity.

He only found out about hydroelectricity by chance. Sometime in 2003 he happened to read a booklet on the concept. Rather than stopping there, as most of us would, he actually went on and did something about it, thankfully ignoring the sceptics.

Even more impressive, he did it for free: he didn’t expect any of his fellow villagers to pay him more than the RM15 per month per household that’s needed for the upkeep of the generator.

As a result of his efforts, Sirim, Waitro (an NGO) and Mosti all decided to take it a step further: on 20th February 2009 they unveiled a 40KV hydro power system costing RM300K so that the whole village (45 households) could get electrical supply.

The new plant with pic of Hamid at top right

It was not a small ceremony: present were:
(i) MP for Keningau since 1986 and State Assemblyman for Tambunan since 1976, Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan.
(ii) Sirim Berhad President, Haji Yahaya Ahmad.
(iii) Waitro President, Dr Dieter R. Fuchs.
(iv) Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili.

Perhaps the most impressive point of the whole story is the reported distance of the village being a mere 30-minutes drive to Tambunan town, with the incumbent MP a former Chief Minister and currently a Deputy Chief Minister, yet there was no electrical supply to that village all these years. Someone mentioned that the MP was really brave to even be present at the unveiling ceremony.

Having had his 15 minutes of fame, Hamid said he “doesn’t know what comes next”, but would probably slip back to obscurity.

Source
Daily Express, 20th Feb 2009

… he should be given the award in the state capital, with his whole entourage put up in luxury hotel rooms …

Popularity: 1% [?]

Permalink | life in general |