By Geo Corneby, Green Empowerment’s SE Asia Program Director
From mangrove forests and secluded shores where sea turtles spawn, I’m writing to share how your support is transforming lives in the Indigenous village of Pitas Laut, and rippling out to hundreds more communities across the Sabah region of Malaysia.
This year, we started working with the community of Pitas Laut – a traditional fishing village home to 117 Indigenous Suluk people. Isolated from the regional energy grid, their typical source of electricity is individual petrol generators, which power households for less than 4 hours a day at an estimated cost of up to 40% of average household income. Located along the northeastern coast of Borneo and only reachable by boat, they truly represent the last mile of energy access in Malaysia. My colleague Leona Wai, Green Empowerment’s Malaysia Coordinator, experienced the limitations of having no energy access in Pitas Laut:
“Electricity issues in this village hinder them from reaching their full potential. From my recent visit, the house that we stayed in only had power from 6:00pm – 8:00pm because the family was trying to save the cost of fuel. This family has 4 children.”
If you’ve ever lost power, you can imagine what life is like for all households in Pitas Laut after 8:00pm, all year long. But, life in Pitas Laut is about to change, thanks to your support. Together with the community and our partners, TONIBUNG and Forever Sabah, we’re building a 40kWp solar mini-grid that will provide Tier 4 energy access—high-quality electricity comparable to urban areas. This means meeting basic needs and powering larger appliances that can drive economic growth and improve quality of life.
Over the last two decades, Green Empowerment has helped 31 communities in Malaysian Borneo build micro-utilities like this one. These systems are built, managed, and maintained by community members, and sustained by monthly service fees paid by each family. Pitas Laut’s mini-grid follows in this tradition and marks a new milestone—our most robust project yet, representing true energy equity at the last mile.
In spring of 2025, Pitas Laut’s solar PV mini-grid and socioeconomic center will be standing and operational. Homes will be lit at night and life will not have to come to a halt at sundown. With solar-powered cold storage facilities, the community is excited to create frozen products from their catch which they will be able to sell in the city for a much higher profit. As community members look forward to enjoying 24/7 electricity, they are most excited about what this means for their livelihood:
“With [electricity from] solar PV, it is very exciting that we can make [frozen] packaged products from fisheries. We can package our own products, such as fish and shrimp, and sell it in the city at premium prices. This will help our local economy.”
Sahadan Pullah, 29 years old and a fisherman in Pitas Laut with three children, sharing the community’s plans for new solar system.
As I write this, we are brainstorming ways to bring solar panels into the village via small motorboats. It is the only way to go through estuaries of a vast mangrove forest that borders the village. A breathtaking sight, Pitas Laut is within the Lower Kinabatangan Segama Wetlands, an official Ramsar site designated as a critical natural resource of international importance. Extending over 78,803 hectares, these wetlands are home to many endangered species, including the Proboscis Monkey, Orangutan, and Bornean Clouded Leopard. Living for generations within these natural wonders, the community of Pitas Laut is inspiring leaders of conservation.
After the community learned about endangered turtle species that spawn on their shores, they formed a Turtle Monitoring Committee of 16 women to track turtle landings and nesting sites. They watched YouTube videos to learn how to build a hatchery and care for turtle eggs. To date, they have released over 300 hatchlings of green, hawksbill, and olive ridley turtles into the ocean. With electricity from the solar PV mini-grid, the Women’s Group plans to run an ice business at the socio-economic center and use a percentage of the profit to support the turtle conservation effort. This will save more than 50% of the community’s current spending on ice, and allow women to earn income while staying in the village.
Mural Translation: “Love Our Turtles.”
“We should preserve what is in our village, especially vulnerable life like that of a turtle. With the electricity available [from the new solar system], the women’s group will be able to make more products from [our] own creativity. In addition to selling ice, we also want to develop products … including fish balls and also kaya (jam) from coconut milk. The socio-economic hub’s income is not only for the [the people of this] community but also for us to further develop our conservation efforts. Our dream as a community of women is to take this village forward.”
Fauziah Binti Pullah, one of sixteen women leading turtle conservation efforts in Pitas Laut.
I’m in awe of the story of Pitas Laut and how it proves the many ways that Indigenous communities give back to all of us as custodians of the few remaining natural ecosystems that sustain life on our planet. Now, we are scaling this effort to reach 60,000 more people through our work on the Sabah Rural Electrification Renewable Energy (RE2) Roadmap—an action plan to electrify 200+ Indigenous and rural communities with their own mini-grids in 10 years. As we make this plan a reality, your contributions have allowed us to remain adaptive to the needs of this work, whether out in the field surveying households or at a roundtable convincing decision-makers to prioritize the last mile.
With your support, we can extend reliable, affordable electricity to more last-mile communities in need.
With deep gratitude,
Geoanna Corneby
Southeast Asia Program Director
Thank you to the Pitas Laut Facebook page for sharing your local photos with Green Empowerment.
Geo is passionate about social justice and finding solutions that honor local community leadership. She brings experience in sustainable finance, inclusive business tactics, and climate-positive value chains to her work leading our SE Asia team.