The furore over the controversial coal-fire power plant has forced the Sabah government to review the project’s detailed environmental impact assessment report.

There will be a re-look into the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) report on the proposed coal-fired power plant in Lahad Datu, Chief Minister Musa Aman said today.

lahad datu coal mine 301107 artist impression He said he would ask state tourism, culture and environment minister Masidi Manjun to look into the DEIA to ensure it was properly done.

This followed allegations the DEIA was faulty and ridden with mistakes, Musa told reporters after opening the country's largest palm oil technology expo, Palmex 2010, in Kota Kinabalu.

He was commenting on news reports on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) here, which claimed the DEIA was faulty and should be re-done.

Yesterday, Green Surf (Sabah Unite to Re-Power the Future), a coalition lobbying for cleaner energy options for Sabah, wanted the DEIA report re-done, claiming some of its baseline data collections were inappropriate.

NONE It said, the mistakes included comparison with the wrong ecosystem, mention of species foreign to Borneo and misrepresentation of the Orang Tidong and Orang Sungai who were classified as being of Indonesian origin.

The non-governmental coalition and state agencies were engaged in a DEIA panel meeting here on Tuesday.

According to Green Surf, on the basis the report was a scientifically inadequate representation of the area, the DEIA should be rejected by the Department of Environment.

- Bernama