RM70m allocation to light up villages nationwide

BERA: The government spent RM70 million to pay electricity bills under the village road lighting installation (LJK) programme nationwide last year, said Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said, as of 2016, there were 255,000 installations in the peninsula, Sabah (31,811) and Sarawak (27,259) with an estimated bill per unit of RM17.04 per month.
"We expect the total to increase this year because the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak) has allocated RM100 million to install 122,133 units for 2017.
"To date, 80% of the installation work has been completed and we expect it to be fully ready by year's end," he told a media conference after officiating the LJK 2017 handing over ceremony in Kampung Guai here yesterday.
Ismail Sabri said the LJK 2017 installation includes the LIght Emitting Diode (LED) type which is five fold brighter than the previous High Pressure Sodium Vapour (HPSV) type of lighting.
For this year, he said, out of the 122,133 LJK units, 6,333 units are of the LED type that are placed at strategic public places such as mosques and main road junctions.
Ismail Sabri said in Pahang alone, LJK involved the installation of 7,000 HPSV aand 770 LED lights.
He said since the LJK programme began in 2003, the government through his ministry had spent about RM245 million.
"Although the LJK programme incurs high costs, it is urgently needed. In fact the prime minister himself has requested that villages in the rural areas without such facility be given priority," he added. — Bernama