Lighting Up Kuang Village
For decades the people of Dusun Kuang, a remote village in West Kalimantan, had been waiting to get electricity. Children used to study at home under the light of a kerosene lamp. Medical workers relied on a flashlight when they helped women give birth at night. Now, with the village funds, they can get out of the “dark” era.
For decades the people of Dusun Kuang, a remote village in West Kalimantan, had been waiting to get electricity. Children used to study at home under the light of a kerosene lamp. Medical workers relied on a flashlight when they helped women give birth at night. Now, with the village funds, they can get out of the “dark” era.
Mita, 30, an operator of a micro hydropower plant (PLTMH) in Dusun Kuang, a remote hamlet in Sempatung village, Landak regency, West Kalimantan, was busy checking the generator’s parts, recently.
Dusun Kuang hamlet is located about 224 kilometers from Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan Province.
Mita carefully examined the small hydropower generator’s parts, one of which was a turbine. He also checked the plumbing to make sure there were no technical problems so that the electricity would not turn off.
Besides Mita, there are two other people who work as the PLTMH’s operators. They have been specially trained to maintain the operation of the generator. Thus, whenever, there is a technical problem, the generator can be repaired immediately.
"This is how we work as operators. We routinely check the generator’s parts and electricity installation, at residents\' homes. If there are problems with the installation, we fix them," said Mita.
The PLTMH generator was built in 2017 using village funds, the government’s budget allocation for villages. The small hydropower generator started its operation in early the village in early 2018. "We received village funds of Rp 257 million for the construction of the small hydro power generator, which can generate electricity up to 50,000 watts, "said the Sempatung village head, Thimotius, Monday afternoon.
Dusun Kuang hamlet is located on hills with abundant water sources that can be used to operate a small hydropower plant. The generator is run by a village-owned enterprise (BUMDes).
Long-awaited
As many as 158 families in Dusun Kuang hamlet had been waiting for decades to get electricity. Before the operation of the generator, the people used kerosene lamps as a source of lighting. Decades ago, residents had to buy kerosene in Serimbu, the capital of Air Besar district. They had to go as far as 39 kilometers to reach the Serimbu. Sometimes, they had to go to Entikong, on the border with Malaysia, to get kerosene.
"People had to walk 12 hours to buy five liters of kerosene at Rp 10,000 per liter, when they still used kerosene lamps. The kerosene was used for a month. They had to stay overnight at their relatives\' houses in the capital of the district and returned to the village the next day," Thimotius said.
Residents, who are financially capable, used a home generator. However, there were only a few who owned generators. They went to Serimbu through the river using a boat to buy diesel oil for the generator. They spent Rp 900,000 for the diesel oil for a month. To save the costs, the generator was turned on only between six o’clock in the evening to 11 0’clock at the night.
In 2014, after the road was widened, the people could use a motorcycle to buy the fuel to the district capital. However, it still took two days because the road was badly damaged. When there was no kerosene, the people used a flashlight. They had to spend between Rp 12,000 and Rp 22,000 to buy the batteries for the flashlights a month, depending on usage.
The lack of sources of lighting at that time also affected health services. When there was a woman had to deliver a baby at night, the health workers relied on a flashlight for lighting.
"We felt worried due to the limited lighting. However, we tried our best," said Agustina Ria, the midwife in the village. There were also residents who borrowed a home generator from a neighbor for lighting when there was a woman giving birth. However, most of the time, they used a flashlight while assisting the delivery of a baby at night.
"If there were people involved in accidents, it was difficult to sew the wounds at night. However, there are no more problems with lighting now," she said.
Romi, 30, a local resident, had such an experience when his wife delivered a baby a year ago. At that time, the lighting in his home relied on a flashlight. Romi was worried that the flashlight battery would run out before the delivery process finished, moreover, if the delivery process was not smooth as expected. "Fortunately my wife gave birth smoothly and safely, Romi said. Mas Dedi, 32, another resident, said that children have difficulty in studying at home because they only used a kerosene lamp before the PLTMH was built. Sometimes, if there was homework, they did it during the day, when the day was still bright to do the homework optimally. Now the children of the Dusun Kuang hamlet are more comfortable when studying at home.
Comfortable and cheap
Besides being more comfortable for all needs, the costs spent by the residents are also lighter. With electricity from the PLTMH, residents only need to pay Rp 7,500 per month. Now, the residents can have mobile phones because there is a source of electricity to charge the gadget. By having a mobile phone, people can easily get information about the prices of commodities such as pepper in the city, although they have to go the hill to look for signal. At least, the residents can get the information about the commodity prices.
"We can also have a television and can keep up with information outside the village. Although we live in a remote area, we do not miss information about developments in other areas," said Mas Dedi.
With the village funds, another PLTMH is under construction at nearby village, Dusun Kuningan. The construction process has reached 50 percent. The total cost is Rp 347 million. The constriction is scheduled for completion in September this year.
The village head Thimotius is working hard to ensure that the PLTMH cannot only provide electricity for home lighting, but also for business activities. In the village, there is potential to run agribusiness. However, it still takes time to make the electricity as a business for the village.
The head of the office of the community empowerment and village administration of the West Kalimantan government, Alexander said the local government continued to encourage villages to be innovative so that they could take the advantage of the village funds, for example by establishing business activities in cooperation with BUMDes.
Overall, only between 10 and 15 percent of 2,031 villages in West Kalimantan have established BUMDes. Alexander hopes that by 2019, about 60 to 70 percent of the villages will be able to establish their own BUMDes.
The village funds for West Kalimantan continue to increase. The village funds for the province, which totaled Rp 537.07 billion in 2015, rose to Rp 1.24 trillion in 2016. The amount further increased to Rp 1.61 trillion in 2017 and Rp 1.69 trillion in 2018.