Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia donates high-power solar energy system for orang asli community space

Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia (MMM) has recently donated high-power solar energy systems to the orang asli shared community space, also known as the Rumah Adat, in order to have electricity supplied to the indigenous people’s communities.

This donation was made through Global Peace Foundation, a non-profit organisation with a mission to build resilient and cohesive orang asli communities, said MMM.

The lack of access to grid electricity for orang asli housing and community spaces brings health risks, large energy expenses and adverse environmental impact, said Mitsubishi, as in order to have light after sundown, bonfires are created by burning dried palm fruit.

This, however, creates plenty of smoke that causes problems such as breathing difficulties and watery eyes among the villagers, especially the children. Some orang asli families also use petrol to run generators and recharge their batteries to power other appliances.

Because housing for these communities are largely built with bamboo, zinc and PVC, there are flammable materials involved and therefore a very real fire hazard is posed. Through the adoption of solar energy, reliance on these traditional energy sources can be reduced, while reducing the health risks from smoke and fire hazards at the same time.

“As part of Malaysian society, we want to see Malaysians, including the indigenuous community, live a better life. With high-power solar systems, we will be providing the orang asli with access to affordable and renewable energy that enhances productivity.

“This allows community projects to continue even after dark, minimising the health and environmental impact from non-renewable energy, reduces pollution as well as energy expenditure from buying expensive energy sources that are not sustainable,” said senior VP of MMM Arba Rahman.

These efforts by MMM are in conjunction with Mitsibishi Motors Corporation (MMC)’s global CSR programme, “Step to The Future” which revolves around the four main themes of society, traffic, environment and people, the senior VP of MMM added.