Conduct studies on dams first

Carry out EIA studies first before building the dams - this was the call from a senior Sarawak PKR leader to the state government today.

Nicholas Bawin, the state PKR deputy chief (Dayak section), stressed the importance of carrying out Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies first before going ahead to build a series of 12 hydro-electric dams in Sarawak.

“Many people believe that if we were go to ahead and build the dams across Sarawak, it would not only destroy a lot of the natural riverine systems, take away a big land mass and displace many indigenous people but also will be environmentally disastrous for the state,” he told Malaysiakini today.

The PKR leader was commenting on state-owned public-listed Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) to build the dams with assistance from the Chinese government.

Land destroyed, people suffer

Malaysiakini learnt that the Three River Gorges Project Corporation of China has already put forward proposals to build the RM3 billion 900MW Marun dam above Bakun, likely to take place after the completion of the Bakun dam in two years’ time.

Bawin, a former president of the Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU), said the experiences with the two existing dams - the 2400MW dam now under construction in Bakun and the 600MW Batang Ai dam - had shown the extent of the land mass affected and the sufferings of the displaced indigenous groups.

“Building 12 new dams to produce 7000MW of electricity means the cutting of many rivers, not to say the extent of the land mass which affects native customary rights (NCR) land and the number of people who would be displaced,” he said.

Therefore, it is necessary to undertake socio-economic studies as well as studies on environmental impact on each of the planned hydro dams, he added.

Bawin also opined that there is no need to build so many dams in Sarawak for economic reasons, if the dams are going to adversely affect so many people and only benefit a few financially.

Meanwhile, well-known environmentalist Gurmit Singh also came out strongly to criticise the proposed Tutoh dam project which he said will affect the Mulu National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

But Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud defended his government's decision yesterday, saying the environmentalist does not know what he is taking about as the Tutoh dam is far away from the site and will not affect the Mulu National Park.

Same old tune

Taib said critics are playing 'the same old tune' and are ignorant of Sarawak's conditions and its future direction. He said the world is facing depleting energy resources, particularly fossil fuel.

“The world has been trying to overcome this and someone in Penang comes up to sing the same old tune and criticise Sarawak without knowing what the condition is like here, the chief minister said.

“He (Gurmit Singh) should make a careful study before opening his mouth,” Taib lashed back.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu also hit back at those Dayak professionals who have joined PKR recently and are now out to defend NCR lands.

These people, he said, are only keen to become leaders and they are now instigating the people to hate the government by playing up on such issues.

Lately, state government policies, especially on NCR land matters, have been the focus of attention of the opposition PKR, in longhouse meetings and dialogues and that some Dayak leaders, especially Jabu and Masing, have come under increasing criticisms for their failure to address such issues.

In response to Jabu's comments, one of the lawyers defending native customary land rights Baru Bian said the best way is to let the people and the world judge what they do.

"This is a democratic country, we can join whoever we want," he said, adding that everything that the natives have done to oppose what has been described as land grab in Sarawak, that is the taking of NCR land without prior consultation andwithout compensation, is within the law.