MIRI – An environmental watchdog group has slammed Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg for his attempt to revive the construction of more hydroelectric dams in rural Sarawak.
Save Rivers Network chairman Peter Kallang said the social, economic and environmental problems in rural Sarawak caused by the construction of mega-dams in past years have not even been resolved, and here is Johari talking about building new dams.
Kallang commented to The Vibes that this latest attempt by Johari to revive the projects is not a good sign.
“Sarawak has already constructed numerous big dams before,” he said. “Those dam projects have caused severe impacts on the environment, felt even until now.
“The social and human rights problems generated by the construction of the previous dams have lingered on even until today and have not been addressed thoroughly and resolved.”
He pointed to the difficulties still faced by evicted natives in Bakun after thousands of people from the Penan tribe were removed from the equatorial rainforest there to make way for a mega-dam 25 years ago.
Their woes include those related to resettlement where they are still staying in temporary longhouses, ownership of land, lack of employment, and the worsening state of public infrastructure like bridges and roads.
“All these problems have been lingering for years and are getting worse. The state government had failed to address them.
“Yet here we are hearing Premier Johari talking about new dams...,” Kallang said.
He also stressed that the idea floated by Johari to build “cascading dams” does not make practical sense.
“Construction of cascading dams costs even more money than building conventional dams.
“Cascading dams cannot function during drought or prolonged low river levels as they require fast-flowing currents to turn the turbines,” he said.
“Rural Sarawak can see serious dry spells where rivers even dried up.”
Claims on crocodiles and fish
Kallang also panned Johari's notion that the cascading dams can reduce crocodile populations and produce more fish, saying that he should back up such claims with professional data.
Johari recently announced that the Sarawak government is planning to construct more hydroelectric dams soon in its two largest rural districts of Kapit and Baram.
In announcing this during the Baram River regatta over the weekend, he said that the new dams will be based on the cascading design that can produce electricity for the rural communities.
He also claimed that the cascading dams are effective in preventing crocodile breeding at remote rivers.
Johari said there are many rivers in the deep interiors that will be good sites for cascading dams. They are big and deep enough for cascading turbines to be built.
Johari has discussed the idea with Kapit MP Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, who is also the federal works minister, and will be consulting the local assembly representatives and MP.
It was reported late last year that Sarawak Energy Bhd, a state-owned energy company, had tabled a working paper on large dams as a long-term source of “clean” energy at an Asean conference on renewable energy in Kuching.
Sarawak already has four huge dams in the form of Bakun Dam in Belaga district, Batang Ai Dam in Lubok Antu district, Murum Dam, and the new Baleh Dam, both in Belaga district.
State leaders have also said that there are plans to generate more power in order to sell to the new Indonesian capital Nusantara being built in neighbouring Kalimantan. – The Vibes, October 3, 2023
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