'Stop impoundment of Bakun dam'

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 11:56
By Joseph Tawie

KUCHING: Sarawak PKR wants the state government to stop the impoundment of Bakun dam immediately.

The party wants the governemt to conduct a 'fresh and independent' feasibility report and environmental impact assessment (EIA) to re-evaluate the viability of the hydro-electric dam project.

“This is in view of the problems brought about by the impoundment of the Bakun dam,” Baru Bian, chairman of Sarawak PKR told reporters.

He said the impoundment of the dam had caused hardship to the people and destroyed the ecological system.

He added that the Balui River which is the upstream part of the Rajang River had dryed up and marine life dying.

“The Balui River (the upstreamd part of the Rajang River) is drying up.

"We have received reports and complaints that river communications have been cut off, food rations, medical supplies and other essential services are affected. A lot of fish, especially the most expensive fish, the empurau are dying.

“So we call on the government to immediately stop the impoundment of the dam as the relevancy and accuracy of the factors and data taken into consideration in the feasibility study and EIA reports conducted in the early 80s are now questionable and doubtful,” Bian said.

He said the feasibility studies conducted 30 years ago had not taken into account the deforestation in the upper reaches of Sungai Balui which had inevitably affected the water retaining capacity of the catchment areas.

Another glaring flaw of the EIA is the dry riverbed experienced now which could not have been anticipated, he said.

Bian also warned the government not to proceed with the construction of the Baram dam project as it woul affect the people’s livelihood, longhouses and their lands will be much worse than that of Bakun dam.

Some 25 longhouses, churches, schools and clinics will be affected by the dam which is expected to submerge 38,900 hectares or 389 sq. km of land.

And more than 20,000 natives will have to be moved out and resettled, he said.

Source here

Sabahans - your doomsday is pending

And, Please CONTINUE voting for Barisan Najis, Ok?

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Trepidation as Sabah dirty coal-fired power plant D-day looms
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:35
www.freemalaysiatoday.com

KOTA KINABALU: Amidst the scorching Sabah heat, dry rivers and raging wildfires, advocates of a greener, cleaner state face up to the burning likelihood that the government's final solution to the state's perennial electricity shortage could be the kiss of death to their efforts to preserve the environment.

The environment impact assessment (EIA) report of the proposed 300MW coal-fired power plant at Felda Tungku in Lahad Datu, is due to be out this month.

The state government, after initially dithering on approving the controversial plant, has finally succumbed to pressure from federal authorities responsible for the country's energy demands.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman rejected the coal power plant in 2008, but rapidly back-pedalled when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that the controversial plant would be sited at Felda Tungku.

Electricity supply in the state comes directly under the federal government through power supplier Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), which in turn is controlled by the country's main power supplier, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).

SESB and TNB have long maintained that coal is the only option as a source of power supply on the east coast.

"Coal is the most economically viable fuel option for the east coast of Sabah, against other alternatives. Abundance supply of coal from nearby Kalimantan… will provide secured supply of coal at competitive price, thus ensuring continuous operation of the plant and optimum cost of supply/tariff," SESB said on its website.

But, the people residing there are unconvinced. They remain opposed because of fears that toxic coal pollutants will affect both their health and the environment.

The fishing communities along the pristine Darvel Bay, where the coal-fired plant will discharge millions of gallons of treated heated water, are fearful for their now abundant catch.

“The people of Lahad Datu and Seguntor had rejected the coal-fired plant and now the majority of Sabahans do not want it as well,” said Melanie Chia Ket Sui, an opposition politician, during a futile bid for an emergency motion to enable the State Legislative Assembly to debate the issue.

Unsubstantiated claims

The state government said Chia's claims were unsubstantiated.

Tungku assemblyman Suhaili Said (BN) has said that as far as he knew, his constituents had no issues with the plant being located in their area.

Credence to Chia's assertion, however, is supported by the fact that the proposed power plant has been relocated twice, from Silam in Lahad Datu initially and then from Seguntor in Sandakan before being fixed at Tungku after protests by residents.

Most are aware that coal burning is one of the main causes of acid rain, which damages buildings and can be detrimental to aquatic and plant life.

Environmental groups fighting for transparency on the issue are still smarting from anger after their proposals for alternate “clean” energy sources were repeatedly slapped down by the government.

They have already written off the pending report as a whitewash.

"They (the government) have already indicated that it will go ahead no matter what we say," the president of the Sabah Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa), Wong Tack, said recently.

"They have no respect for the wishes of Sabahans. They will build the plant and it will be a disaster for the east coast.

"The government promised a second review of the terms and conditions of the EIA, but where is it? It is still the same.

"Last month, the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) people met (TNB) chairman (Tan Sri) Leo Moggie and he admitted to them that it (the proposed plant) will destroy the environment, but they would nevertheless go ahead," he said in a recent interview.

"He (Moggie) admitted that the proposed site is in an eco-sensitive area that could possibly affect the environment stretching from Darvel Bay to the pristine Danum Valley.

"They simply do not want to look at any other energy sources. They want coal and they will get it," said Wong.

He warned that Sepa and other environmental groups would not be standing by idly.

"Darvel Bay is a fixed deposit for Sabahans… for our children. We are not going to allow anyone to jeopardise the life of our future generations…"

Many unanswered questions


The anti-coal lobby has few prospects of success other than to threaten to help evict the government at the next election if it goes ahead with the plan.

"We have misgivings. What Sabahans must ask is, why? Why not use the plentiful natural gas we are blessed with or buy from Sarawak? They are willing to sell to us the surplus they have from Bakun. Brunei has grabbed their offer. Why not us?

"It is clean and cheaper in the long term. It also will not damage our environment. All we would have to do is extend the transmission lines to Lawas and the Sarawak grid, said Tawau's Sri Tanjung assemblyman Jimmy Wong.

"Why are they (the government) making excuses and pushing for the coal plant which will take years to build?

"They should consider this for the sake of keeping Sabah green, instead of rushing for coal.

"Every year, the government is getting about RM300 million of the RM1 billion from sales tax of palm oil from the east coast. About 30% comes from the Tawau area. You could say more than RM1 billion has been given by Tawau oil palm planters over the years.

"Yet while we have given the most we are suffering the most… and now they are forcing us to breathe polluted air when they put up this coal plant," he added.

A majority of Tawau's 500,000 population (excluding thousands of illegal immigrants) are against the plant, but are resigned to it after enduring decades of frequent power cuts akin to a third world nation.

Moggie argued that the proposed plant is a prudent choice and a way to diversify electricity generation sources.

"Hydropower is a potential (energy source). But if you develop hydropower, it also raises questions about the environment and inundation of areas. Coal supply compared to oil is more dependable, so in future coal will play an important part in our power generation diversification," Moggie said in an interview in 2006.

He said neither gas nor hydropower is available on the east coast of Sabah and biomass is a marginal way of obtaining power supply.

Therefore, he said, "coal is the most practical fuel source and that’s why we decided on it... it is not just us who is using coal but the world also is using it”.

SESB looked at a number of potential sites and identified a portion of state-owned Yayasan Sabah land where the abandoned Pacific Hardwood complex stood sandwiched by Darvel Bay and Silam Hill as the most logical (choice) in terms of its centralised position for a power plant.

The worry is that the state, while still considered one of the most environmentally friendly places in the world, is leaning towards unfriendly environmental policies that will lead to irreversible long-term damage to its unique eco-system.

For the state's environmentalists, doomsday is pending.

- FMT Staff

Court Grants Orang Asli Leave To Review Environment Department's Decision

October 30, 2009
Bernama.com

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 (Bernama) -- Twenty-seven Orang Asli were granted leave by the High Court here on Friday to seek a judicial review of the Department of Environment (DOE) director-general's decision to approve the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the Kelau Dam project in Raub, Pahang.

Justice Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin made the order in chambers after dismissing a preliminary objection by senior federal counsel Azizah Nawawi, of the DOE, who contended that the application was filed out of time.

Pendor Anger and 26 others, from the Senoi and Temuan indigenous tribe, filed the application at the High Court registry on Oct 9, 2007, naming the director-general of DOE and the Pahang and Malaysian governments as respondents.

They claimed that the land involved in the project was passed down to them by their ancestors and that it was where they find livelihood for their families.

They also claimed that the EIA report did not meet the DOE's Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines dan Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines for Dams.

The applicants said the EIA report was doubtful as it failed to cover detailed and reasonable studies on the impact on wildlife as well as give data and enviromental assessment on the affected area.

They also said that they knew nothing about the EIA report which was approved by the government on April 24, 2001 until their counsel told them.

They want a declaration that the government, by approving the dam project, has breached its fiduciary duty to protect the Orang Asli, and costs and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.

The applicants were represented by counsel Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin.

-- BERNAMA

More questions raised over Murum Dam project

When corrupt politicians stayed in power for too long....this will be the consequences. They couldn't care a hoot about nature and the natives.

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Oct 27, 2009
More questions raised over Murum Dam project
By STEPHEN THEN
Star

MURUM (Sarawak): Environmental organisations are aghast to find that the construction of the RM3bil Murum Dam in central Sarawak has already proceeded despite the fact that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report was only released less than two weeks ago.

Sarawak Conservation Action Network (Scane), a coalition of more than a dozen environmental and community rights groups, said the way the state government had carried out the project was a cause for deep concern.

Scane director Raymond Abin told The Star on Tuesday that the EIA for the Murum project was only made public on Oct 18 and the Social Impact Assessment report is not even ready yet, but site- and road-clearing at the Murum Valley in Belaga district have already gone full-steam ahead.

“The developer for the Murum project (a Malaysia-China consortium led by Sarawak Energy Bhd) had only just finished the EIA report. I have a copy with me. It was only completed recently (on Oct 18).

“The report has not been gazetted as yet or tabled for discussion at official levels. The Department of Environment (DOE) has not given its approval for the report nor has the public been given a chance to express their views on it. The Social Impact Assessment has not been completed yet.

“Despite all this, the construction of the Murum Dam is already in full progress,” he said.

“The natives affected by the project have not even agreed to the relocation plan proposed by the state government. Their native land has not been surveyed. They have not been offered any compensation and yet project construction has already started,” he added.

The Star paid a visit to the Murum Valley, located 70km inland from the Bakun Dam, and found that the access road into the site earmarked for the 80m high dam had already been paved.

Trucks, lorries and four-wheel drives were making their way into and out of the Murum Valley, transporting heavy equipment, workers and raw materials like steel, cement, gravel, fuel and the like.

The dam will flood about 30,000 hectares of the Murum Valley to create a reservoir that can feed water into a generation plant to produce about 900 MWs of electricity by 2013.

Some 2,800 people, including 1,800 Penans, will have to be uprooted from eight settlements in the Murum Valley.

Abin said the manner in which the Murum Dam had proceeded without prior EIA approval and without the resettlement issues being resolved showed that the state government had no intention of negotiating or considering the plight of the affected natives.

“There is no genuine concern for the people affected by the project. In fact, some of the affected Penans said the blasting in the Murum Valley (to create the access road on the hillslopes) had started even last year, long before the state government had announced its intention to start the project.

“The affected natives had protested to the Chief Minister (in September) but to no avail,” he said.

A check with the Belaga District Office showed that the Murum Dam EIA report can be viewed by interested parties at the office’s premise.

The Murum Dam is the first of 12 new dams that are to be constructed throughout Sarawak.