Three of four Swak dams built by federal govt failed
Only one of the three mini-hydro dams built and funded by the Federal Rural Development Ministry at a total cost said to be more than RM20 million in Sarawak's Lundu division is generating electricity.
In addition, a fourth mini-hydro dam in the central highlands of Sarawak costing more than RM20 million, also built by the same ministry, failed because of insufficient water to power its turbines.
The three mini-hydro dams in Lundu, near Kuching are at Gading, Pasir and Sebako, all intended to benefit coastal and rural communities.
These are located within close proximity of each other, relying on rivers and streams with inadequate supply because of rainfall patterns over the area to run turbines for Malay and Bidayuh villagers in the Sematan area near the southern tip of Sarawak close to the West Kalimantan border.
The failure of the RM12-million Gading mini-hydro dam came to light two months ago when a government team, led by Sarawak deputy chief minister Alfred Jabu, and comprising a federal and a state minister, officials and consultants visited the site and found it not working due to lack of water.
Problem 'overlooked'
On Thursday, Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Dr George Chan, when asked by reporters about it, blamed consultants for the problems now facing the 20MW dam, saying that they had "inaccurately judged" the amount of water from its source.
"This could have been overlooked by them," he added without saying who the consultants were, who appointed them, and who the contractor was.
Malaysiakini understands that the contractor is WMM Holdings Sdn Bhd, a construction company owned by a former state assemblyman Wan Mahidi, who was also awarded the contract to build the RM160-million new prison near Kuching.
Malaysian Today , a local English-language tabloid, in a report Thursday, quoting sources in the local utility company and the local district office, said the Gading mini-hydro had been out of service for sometime. Part of the problem was a fault in its alternator.
The report also said the Pasir mini-hydro dam near Sematan collapsed about two months ago, but gave no details. It is believed that the foundation had given way and the wall had cracked.
"At the moment only the Sebako mini-hydro dam is still functioning," the sources said.
The sources added the Gading hydro-dam alternator had experienced a short-circuit and that efforts were being carried out to fix the problem.
The dam has been built close to a river but there is not enough water to fill up the reservoir.
Earlier reports, quoting private consultants who had been asked to look at the problems, said the water in the reservoir when the gates opened would not last more than 30 minutes.
Temporary measure
Malaysiakini understands that as a temporary measure the Sarawak Electricity Supply Corporation (Sesco) has taken over maintenance work on the mini-hydro dam.
A Kuching-based private consultant told malaysiakini that the federal Ministry of Rural Development now under a new minister, Azmi Khalid, had been directed by the cabinet to hand over all the projects to Tenaga Nasional Bhd for rehabilitation purposes.
Earlier this year, Energy, Multimedia and Communications Minister Leo Moggie, when launching a rural Internet project in Bario in central Sarawak Highlands, revealed the total waste of funds in the building the RM20-million mini-hydro dam because of the low water level of the river.
He said no proper studies had been undertaken and the project should not have been built at that site.
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