So much has been said by so many about the wisdom or otherwise in the government's decision to revive the billion-dollar hydro-electricity project at Bakun. But exactly how does the ordinary men in the street, say, in Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu feel about it? Does Sarawak, and for that matter Malaysia, really need a gigantic-sized hydro-electricity dam? Indeed, do we need one at all?

Before anything else, it must be said that the issue is, firstly, about electricity and whether a hydro dam of 2,400 megawatts capacity that is smacked right in the heart of Sarawak's rainforest areas, where there live some 10,000 indigenous people, is the right way to go about it.

Over the years, even long before the idea became a reality when Ekran started work on it only to leave it unfinished afterwards and the federal government had to take it back, there was already strong opposition to it from environmental groups.

The authorities on their part justified the start of work by obtaining some kind of a green light from an environmental impact assessment study undertaken by University Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), among others.

Much money has poured in to clear the site, to get the South Korean construction firm Dong Ah to build the diversion tunnels, and to get the initial phase of the project off the ground before the move to the next but much bigger phase (the civil and engineering work on the dam proper).

Much money, too, has been spent not only on opening up a new road from Bintulu to the Bakun site but also in resettling some 10,000 people who had been living in longhouses in and around the area into new sites. The new homes together with other amenities are supposed to offer something much better in life for them, and there are supposed to be plenty of opportunities for new jobs and for making money from new ventures.

The question is whether such expectations have been or are being fulfilled? The authorities of course can only expect trouble if the reality has fallen short of expectations.

To be fair, many families have become extremely well-to-do because of compensation money. To be fair also, only those who are dissatisfied with the quantum and/or are still not getting anything by way of financial compensation from the Land & Survey Department because of one reason or another cannot be expected to be happy at all.

Even among the indigenous groups, some who felt they could have made more but did not from some of the Bakun-related projects are naturally not happy. They speak their minds quite loudly, and through various non-governmental groups they have made their views known both within and outside the country.

But what about the ordinary Sarawakians who live in the towns in Sarawak who one day may be asked to shoulder the cost, directly or indirectly, if for some reason the billion-dollar Bakun project did not bring the results as originally expected?

Most of them were probably puzzled at the international outcry from opposition and environmental groups that first greeted the announcement on Bakun years ago before it was built or when it was under construction. But if at all there was some inclination of interest in the future of such a project they would only be interested to know where all that power is going or who is going to really buy them.

Original size

That question was of course answered then when the government said an undersea cable was going to be built to bring much of the Bakun electricity to Peninsular Malaysia. The attitude then was, "OK, if you're going to spend so much money and can sell all that power, that should be all right."

But it is different now. The federal government which has spent more than RM1 billion in taking over the project and will now have to find something like RM9 billion or more to complete the project according to the original size, has decided that the power is not now going to the peninsular after all.

This has, of course, not come as much of a surprise as the prototype technology to carry the power via undersea cable over such long distances and through international waters remains basically untested.

Can Bakun dam, when it is eventually completed in, say, six years' time be able to see that much of its power will find the market? Even though conditions in Indonesian Kalimantan presently may not be favourable for investment not only because of the recent human carnage but also because there is virtually a complete absence of some basic infrastructure, the situation may or will change then.

But Indonesian Kalimantan is not without its own hydro-electricity dam. There is one in South Kalimantan - it was built in the 1960s with the help of the then Soviet Union. I visited the dam in 1966 after Confrontasi officially ended. It supplies power to homes and factories in and around Bandjermasin, capital of South Kalimantan.

Most industries (mainly wood-based and palm oil) across the border are found only in and around cities or towns and are too far perhaps for power to be transmitted by overhead lines from Bakun.

This leaves Bakun with Sarawak itself, Sabah and possibly Brunei. It will be more realistic to suggest that Bakun will eventually supply to the Sarawak and Sabah market, if only because Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) is now running the power utility board in Sabah.

Sarawak now consumes about a little shy under 700 megawatts, and assuming that the annual growth is around 10 percent, that means by the time Bakun is completed the total consumption of the state will be a little less than 1,200 megawatts.

Present generating capacity using hydro (Batang Ai), diesel, coal and gas from the various stations throughout the state is around 800 megawatts, and there are plans to increase this capacity by another 100 megawatts by next year.

This means with Bakun's 2,400 megawatts (actual generation will be much less, maybe around 1,700 to 1,800 megawatts allowing for several factors, including loss and rainfall conditions), there will nevertheless be a huge excess of power. However, when officials announced Bakun would be revived recently according to its original size, they also said production of power would be phased according to requirements.

No choice

What this means is that even when it is 100 percent completed, say, at the scheduled time, or earlier, it would not be operating at full capacity. Critics would naturally ask, "Why then have to plan and build such a big hydro power plant?"

This is more of a case that the government really has no choice having designed the hydro dam in that scale and having spent so much already on the initial construction phase, the resettlement and other related infrastructure such as roads.

There is going to be a lot of power available, and the Sarawak government would clearly have to tell the federal government that it is going to be necessary to site some energy-intensive industries. One such industry that has been talked about and that is certain to be opposed again by environmental groups is the proposed aluminium ore manufacturing plant.

If and when such a plant is finally confirmed there will be a need too to build another port in Bintulu for bulk carriers. Original estimates for such a port run into a couple of billion ringgit.

Sarawak is rich in natural and mineral resources, and planning for a power bank of some 3,000 megawatts by the end of the decade does not seem to be overly ambitious. Ordinary Sarawakians are well aware how the spin-off effects from the resumption in the dam building works will benefit people.

Many contractors and sub-contractors got their hands badly burnt the last time when they invested in the first place for the Bakun project. Perhaps these people should be given another chance, at least to recoup some of their losses and to make some money.

Many local contractors have learned from the lessons and will be very careful because they are not likely to plunge head-on into new deals unless they are certain of the main contractor's sound financial position and integrity.

"It is only right and proper that there should be an open system for bidding for the Bakun project and that only international contractors with good and proven track records should be invited to put in their bids," according to a local engineering consultant.

"We don't want to have to go through what we did in the past."

Open tender

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Dr George Chan had made it known that the state government would like the project to be put up for open international tender in an open and transparent basis.

While most people accept that following the federal cabinet's decision that work will go ahead in Bakun to build a 2,400-megawatt hydro electricity dam, the authorites are being urged to look at the welfare and living conditions of the indigenous population who have resettled at Sungai Asap.

"Look at their requests for more space for farming, look at the conditions of the houses that have been built, look at the various amenities, and look at their other problems as well as needs," a local native inhabitant told malaysiakini recently.

"It is not enough just to offer and make compensation for their lands, to build new longhouses, some schools and clinics," he said. " In life they need more than that. Foremost, when jobs are available priority must be given to locals. This applies to big and small contract works."

A local environmentalist said since Bakun is definitely going ahead, it may not be enough just to rely on the Department of Environment and/or the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board to monitor the situation at all times. "This is because they are largely seen as too close to the powers-that-be and may have some vested interests."

"It is better for funds to be set aside to get independent monitoring groups to carry out a regular audit so that when work gets underway in a big scale locals with the calibre and education can also be involved in discussions on key decisions concerning the protection of the environment."

He suggested that the government should be prepared to be transparent and accountable at all times in order to minimise disruptions or complaints and to address environment-related issues that might crop from time to time before, during and after the implementation of this hydro power plant in central Sarawak.

TONY THIEN is a freelance writer based in Kuching.