Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) - which is a government agency that oversees the construction of Sarawak's dams - is defending the state government’s policy of building mega hydro-electric dams in the state.

Under its renewal energy policy, Sarawak plans to build 12 mega dams in the state, following the construction of the Batang Ai, Bakun and Murum dams.

“As a developing state, Sarawak has to deliver energy that is cost-effective and produces reliable and affordable electricity that attracts investors, which will then spur development,” said SEB chief executive officer Torstein Dale Sjotveit at a dinner for journalists, hosted by the firm last night.

Sjotveit said that extensive coverage has been given to the possibility of building smaller cascading dams in Sarawak, after former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad ( left ) asked the state government to re-think its policy of building mega dams.

Mahathir - who delivered a keynote address at the International Energy Week in Kuching on Tuesday - said that Sarawak should consider building smaller cascading dams instead of mega dams, as smaller dams would not flood too much land and forests, thus causing a lesser number of people to be displaced.

The success of cascading dams in Austria and Germany were good examples, he added.

As an obvious rebuttal of Mahathir’s remarks, Sjotveit said: “However, other than being far more expensive to build, this proposed run of river-cascading dams scheme does not produce the magnitude of secure reliable power that is required all-year round - especially during dry seasons.

“Affordable electricity also means that the people of Sarawak will continue to enjoy the cheapest tariff in Malaysia and amongst the lowest in this region,” he said, pointing out that beyond power generation, the dams could serve a number of purposes - including flood mitigation.

'Significant role in flood mitigation'

Through the management of water reservoir, the impact of flood events downstream could be reduced, he noted.

Many people did not know that Bakun and Murum dams had played a significant role in mitigating the impact of floods downstream of the Rajang river.

“I am pleased to note that Sibu no longer suffers (from) floods with the same severity as before. And I hope our planned hydropower projects will reduce the impact and severity of floods throughout Sarawak in the future,” Sjotveit said.

Personally, he found it surprising that there were still people here who agreed with outsiders from "developed countries" about how Sarawak should progress, since the reason why they could criticise development in Sarawak and elsewhere is because they were already developed.

In Norway, where Sjotveit is from, he said hydropower changed his hometown through industrialisation, and stressed that the standard of living which Norwegians now enjoy would not be possible without industrialisation spurred by hydropower development.

He acknowledged that the development of hydropower involved displacing communities - especially in Sarawak, where the optimal sites for dams usually happened to be where the Orang Ulu communities lived.

“But at the same time, through well-managed resettlement, communities with limited or difficult access to infrastructure and utilities are brought nearer to education, economic opportunities, health services, water supply, road systems and other necessities.

“Hydropower can bring about industrialisation and from that, socio-economic development - this has been proven to be a successful development model for many developed nations, which Sarawak is emulating as we have an abundance of hydropower potentials,” he said.

“Sarawak’s future path to prosperity is by utilising our natural resources for development. SEB is proud to be part of that story, providing the power to grow,” Sjotveit added.