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| Mabul Island at Sunset |
Sad to say this is our final blog as we finished up at the TONIBUNG office two days ago after a manic rushing through of last minute details and tidying up loose ends. We are writing this from Mabul Island, just off the East Coast of Sabah where we have headed for a few days to do a spot of diving before we pack up. Diving Sipadan was like jumping into a giant aquarium. Sharks, turtles, eagle rays, cuttle fish, octopi, mandarin fish…we could go on for a while.
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| The problematic bridge |
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| Community Workshop |
We returned to Buayan and Tiku in the Crocker Range with our boss, Banie to report to the communities there our plan for the hydro sites. In Buayan (if you remember from one of our first blogs) there are a few problems with the existing 10kW micro-hydro including structural problems with the bridge supporting the penstock pipe and siltation at the intake. We proposed to the village our plans for improving and solving these problems and enquired into their thoughts on the feasibility of the work involved. Banie organised a Gotong Royong (community get-together) in order to discuss the matter which traditionally ended in the Tapei (rice/tapioca wine) and local food being passed around the group and the guitar making an appearance for some “kampung karaoke”.
In Tiku we carried out a few more flow and head measurements and assessed with Banie where we thought would be the best location to site a potential 10kW micro hydro. This again was followed with another Gotong Royong to inform the community of our intentions and our proposed plan. The head of the village, through translation, explained to us that they were very glad that we were hopefully able to help them provide electricity to the village. At present, small diesel generators are used by some of the houses but transporting fuel from the town proved difficult, especially during bad weather when the river is not cross-able. Banie later explained that since Tiku is probably the closest Kampung to the built up coastal towns in Sabah it is generally hit first by disputes over land, logging and farming rights. By installing an off-grid electricity source the lives of the kampung people could hopefully improve. On our return to the office we completed and submitted our proposal to a few potential funders and will hopefully hear back with good new soon.
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| Orang Utan |
We managed to squeeze in a road trip to Sandakan on the East Coast of Sabah over the weekend. The scenery on the drive over from the West was fantastic: the road passes through the Kinabalu National Park and the views of the mountains, mainly Mount Kinabalu were breathtaking. We saw the Orang Utans and Proboscis monkeys, endemic to Borneo, visited the Rainforest Research Centre and the Sepilok Giant, a huge 1000 year old tree. On our drive back we stopped off at the Sabah tea plantation which had fantastic views across the region and the Poring Hot Springs for a dip in a hot mineral bath; freshen up in a waterfall and a quick trip to see the Rafflesia flower, the largest in the world.
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| Rafflesia Flower |
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| Proboscis Monkey |
A few days later we were off again: this time to Peninsular Malaysia to visit a few more sites. We teamed up with COAC (Centre for Orang Asli Concerns), run by Colin Nicholas, who are involved in raising awareness of the struggles faced by the Orang Asli. Our first kampung of the trip was Tanjung Rambai, where improvements were in the process of being done to the micro-hydro there. We took some flow measurements, as well as measured up and drew a few sketches for construction of an improved side-intake structure and weir to remedy siltation. Unfortunately we did not have time in our schedule to stay and oversee the work being done but Banie was more than confident that the community were able to carry out the work themselves from referring to our sketches and dimensions.
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| Work already underway to replace turbine that was damaged by heavy siltation |
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| Short head race and forebay tank which required work |
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| A few on-site calcs |
We took a trip to another nearby kampung which we had been asked to visit by the Tg. Rambai community. We did not have a lot of information on the kampung but were told that they could benefit from a micro-hydro scheme of their own. The kampung is only a few kilometres outside of the capital, Kuala Lumpur and it was almost incomprehensible that just out of sight of the grandeur Petronas Towers, which dominate the KL skyline, you can find a small impoverished kampung without adequate water, sanitation and electricity. Even a major highway has recently been constructed nearby which has in fact cut off several houses from the rest of the community. However, there were a few signs of development including some low cost government housing in the midst of being built. We carried out a feasibility study of the river which suggested that a small hybrid scheme could work: although it can be pricey and the signs that the government have already intervened in developing the kampung hopefully suggest that they could be hooked up the grid in the near future. We’ll see if anything develops there!
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| Kg. Ulu Semul |
We also spent a night in probably the most remote and primitive kampung of our placement, Ulu Semul in the Pehang region where we slept in the traditional houses on the open-slatted bamboo floor (superb way of ventilation: kampung air-con!) and bathed in the river. We carried out some flow and head measurements but the river was unsuitable as there was insufficient head. However, we heard of a few other nearby kampungs, Sagong and Ulu Tenlan that also had potential rivers so we set off in the hope that there was potential for the river to provide enough power for both kampungs. Banie and a few other team members headed to Tenlan while Andy and I set off for Sagong. To our delight the river at Sagong was fantastic and even from a quick glance it was easy to see that there was a lot of potential energy there. Tenlan wasn’t as hopeful but maybe there is scope, if costs allow, for construction of a scheme large enough to power both kampungs sufficiently.
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| River at Kg. Sagong |
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| Taking notes at the river |
Last week was spent at 3200m above sea level as we hiked up with the rest of our team to carry out installation of various eco-friendly systems for Mountain Torq at base camp, including the pico-hydro scheme we have been worked on over the last few months. We were a little anxious about hiking and working at such high altitudes and suffering from altitude sickness but we took out time reaching the base camp and other than a bit of breathlessness we were both fine. We helped re-arrange the gravity feed water tanks to increase the capacity of the tanks, install a solar water heater and solar panels (as part of the solar-hydro hybrid). All the equipment needed to be carried up by porters and it was incredible to see these guys with heavy tanks, pipes, batteries etc. strapped to their backs powering up the mountain quicker than we did! Unfortunately all the pipes needed for the hydro-scheme didn’t make it up the mountain in the time we were there so installation has been postponed until phase 2 in January. It was disappointing but that said we still needed to survey the site and determine the location of intake, forebay tanks and powerhouse which we were able to do. As a thank you, Mountain Torq arranged for us to do the Via Ferrata on our penultimate morning which involved a very early morning hike up to the start of the Via Ferrata, near the summit and traversing down the mountain using harnesses, wire ropes and cable bridges.
Back down in the office we spent the final week doing paperwork and tying up loose ends. Banie also threw us a farewell BBQ at the workshop. Consuming meat, moonshine and whisky all night wasn’t the ideal preparation for the following morning’s flight to Semporna, but we still had a brilliant send off, and are extremely grateful to everyone we’ve been involved with over the last 3 months. We really appreciate the efforts people have made to give us such a memorable and genuine experience of Borneo. It has been a privilege, and we recognise how lucky we are.
