The state assemblyperson for Belaga, Stanley Ajang, has blamed failure in keeping the Orang Ulu communities informed of remedial action being taken for their great anxiety over possible floodings in the Bakun hydro-electric dam site in Belaga, central Sarawak.

Last week, heavy rains caused the Balu River to swell to a dangerous level above the coffer dam under construction, causing a great deal of uneasiness among the 10,000 native inhabitants living in more than 20 longhouses below the site.

According to newspaper reports, many of the inhabitants had fled the area for fear the rising waters would exert pressure on the yet-to-be-completed coffer dam, causing it to collapse and flood the settlement areas.

Ajang told malaysiakini today that no one has actually fled from the area contrary to some media reports. But he said when the water levels at Balui River swelled because of heavy rains, there was a great deal of anxiety among the inhabitants.

Remedial action

According to Ajang, he had been informed that remedial action including a swift building of a spillway to provide another outlet for the water to flow down, in addition to the existing diversion tunnels next to it.

This, he said, was part of the emergency measures being taken to ensure that if it continued to rain, pressure would be taken off the diversion tunnel and the coffer dam site itself.

A committee comprising of Belaga district officer Bujang Sudin, police and other departments has also been formed on the directive of the state government to monitor the situation.

Ajang blamed the lack of publicity to the efforts to deal with the situation as causing the anxiety among the local population.

Saying that he would be travelling to Bakun to allay fears on the ground, the Belaga representative said he had urged officials of Sarawak Hidro-Eletrik Sdn Bhd, the Bakun HEP owner, to brief the local ketua masyarakat (local headmen) on the emergency measures that had been taken and to ease their minds following the latest development.

According to him, since the Sarawak Hidro-Eletrik Sdn Bhd directors will be holding their board meeting in Bakun on Friday, they should also arrange to brief the local headmen on what's being done so they will feel more at ease with the situation.

Six contenders

The coffer dam is a temporary dam being built to create a dry area around the site before the construction of the main dam either by the end of this year or early next year.

The RM70-million coffer dam is being built by Global Upline Sdn Bhd, a company controlled by Ekran boss Ting Pek Khiing who is also bidding for the main dam project worth about RM9 billion.

There are six major contenders for the main Bakun dam project. The technical tender is being evaluated and the result is expected to be known by the end of this month. The pricing tender will be called in July and the successful bidder is expected to be known by year-end.

Bakun HEP now fully owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and managed by Tenaga Nasional Bhd through Sarawak Hidro-Eletrik Sdn Bhd, will produce 2400mw of electricity to supply to Sarawak and Sabah and possibly Brunei and West Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is expected to take about five years to complete.

The government has spent some RM300 million on compensation to the affected local inhabitants. So far about 10,000 inhabitants, half of the local population in the affected areas, have been resettled.