VILLAGERS in Pulau Banggi and Pulau Balambangan near Kudat say they’re still waiting for the lights to come on - nearly eight years after a hybrid solar project was launched with the promise of powering their homes.
But today, the only thing that’s making their nights bright are diesel generators and candles.
And even those don’t last long.
What’s left behind from the multi-million ringgit solar project are rusting panels, idle control rooms, and questions no one in authority seems to want to answer.
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Sabah Bersatu now wants those questions addressed – starting with why the projects were left to rot.
The state women’s chief Rahimah Majid, who recently visited the affected sites, said the system was never fully installed and has since fallen into disrepair.
“The people have waited long enough. They were told the project would bring light. What they got was silence and scrap metal,” she said.
The projects – involving sites in Pulau Tanjung Manawali, Pulau Tigabu, Kampung Kok Simpul and Kampung Selamat – were supposed to bring hybrid solar energy to the remote island communities.
Villagers say the works began around 2017 or 2018, but they have remained incomplete ever since.
The Rural and Regional Development Ministry is now led by Umno president and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi – but Rahimah said the problem predates his time.
“The question is not who started it, but why it wasn’t finished,” she said.
It cannot be ascertained but the projects may have begun during the tenure of either Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob or Datuk Seri Rina Harun – who held the portfolio between 2015 and 2020.
“Zahid might not have started it, but he’s now responsible. It’s his ministry. If no one is answering the people, then who will?” said Rahimah.
Pulau Banggi and Balambangan, located off the northern coast of Sabah, are some 180km from Kota Kinabalu.
Both islands fall within the Kudat parliamentary constituency, long known for infrastructure gaps and persistent rural poverty.
Rahimah said the condition of the abandoned equipment is a “visible reminder” of how rural Sabah often falls off Putrajaya’s radar.
“The panels are there. The wiring is there. But nothing works. And no one’s maintaining it,” she said.
She’s now demanding that the ministry issue a full report – including project costs, contractor names, reasons for the delays, and a timeline for when the systems will finally be operational.
“This is public money. The people have a right to know how it was used – or wasted.”
Rahimah also called for a review of contractor performance and for punitive action to be taken if any elements of the project were mismanaged or abandoned without just cause.
“This isn’t about politics. It’s about accountability. The people of Banggi and Balambangan deserve better than half-baked promises and broken infrastructure.”
Zahid, in a recent statement, pledged to prioritise Sabah’s rural development. But Sabah Bersatu says that won’t mean much if unresolved failures like this continue to be ignored.
“Before you promise new projects, finish the ones you already started,” Rahimah said. - May 24, 2025
