Sarawak Energy has been distributing a fact sheet about its Murum dam project that is “misleading and inaccurate”, claims international NGOs.

Yesterday Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) said, “In defence of the Sarawak government’s flawed dams policy, Sarawak Energy CEO, Torstein Dale Sjotveit, is currently circulating a ‘factsheet’ on Murum dam aimed at convincing the media, his business partners and the public that Sarawak Energy is following international standards in its highly controversial Murum dam construction.

“This is of highest significance as the Sarawak government and the police are currently increasing their pressure on the Penan communities who have been blockading the Murum dam construction since Sept 25,” said BMF.

 

Whilst the purported ten-page document claims the hydroelectric project follows international standards, International Rivers Southeast Asia coordinator Kirk Herbertson said that this is not the case.

The document lists compliance with, amongst others, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the Equator Principles, and the Performance Standards of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).

“Sarawak Energy has failed to meet the fundamental requirements of all of these standards,” said Herbertson in a statement, urging “urgent measures are now required to remedy the human rights violations that have occurred.”

 

Herbertson claims that while the fact sheet says that the affected indigenous communities have agreed to resettle citing this as proof of consent, several communities have disputed this.

 

“Even in cases where there was agreement, however, it was neither free from coercion, nor prior to the start of the construction, nor informed by access to information about the project’s impacts,” he added.

'Impact assessment late'

 

As for the dam’s Social and Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA), Herbertson said the fact sheet indicates that the assessment was not even completed although the dam is nearing completion.

 

He points out that international standards including the Equator Principles and IFC Performance standards requires that the SEIA be completed while the dam is in the design phase, before it obtains government approval and the construction begins.

 

“Because the affected communities did not have access to information about the project’s impacts, they were placed in an unfair and uninformed situation when the Sarawak government asked them to negotiate a resettlement package,” he said.

 

Herbertson also said that while the fact sheet highlights several programmes meant to modernise the locals’ lives, the UNDRIP “explicitly recognises that indigenous communities should have a voice in their own development, including the design of any housing, economic, and social programmes on their behalf.

 

“By selecting these types of programs without the communities’ consent, the Sarawak government is again violating their rights,” he said.

 

Herbertson’s statement can be found online, alongside with a version of the factsheet annotated with his commentary.

Blockade persists

The Penan community affected by the Murum dam have blockaded the road leading to the dam to halt construction works.

They refuse to back down until the state authorities agree to listen to their demands.

However, the Sarawak police are sending forces to the blockade and activists fear arrests will be made.

The Murum dam is the second after the massive Bakun Dam that critics say has afforded Sarawak a surplus in electricity.

Regardless, Sarawak Energy is planning to build 11 more dams throughout the state.

 

BLOCKADE AGAINST MURUM DAM

Part 1: Penan vow Murum Dam blockade will stay

Part 2: Life's a chicken coop for Penan with kids in school

Part 3: The gov't has rejected us, say Murum natives