RURAL and traditional people in northern Sarawak have launched ground protests at two separate locations – Mulu National Park and along the Tutoh-Apoh river tributaries – to protest Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg’s confirmation that three new hydroelectric dams will be constructed very soon.
At the heart of the concern is alarm over the impact these projects would have over the lives of natives, as well as the pristine rainforests and rich ecology of the land.
Save Rivers Network chairman Peter Kallang said residents of the Sungai Tutoh and Sungai Apoh regions staged protests yesterday after hearing about Johari's announcement.
"Johari said he is going ahead with constructing the new dams because the communities wanted them.
"The communities in Tutoh-Apoh deny ever giving Johari or any state government agency any consent to build any dams," Kallang said in a statement.
Villagers gathered at the headquarters of the Mulu National Park to express their concern and discontentment.
Social activist Willie Kajan also refuted the claim by Johari that the locals had wanted the new dams to be built.
"Who are the ones who asked Johari to build the new dams? We local natives in Mulu have never been consulted,” he said.
"The Tutoh Dam if built will impact even on part of the Mulu National Park. This is a world heritage site," he warned, referring to the designation given to the natural geographical site by Unesco.
He said more protests will be launched.
On Monday, Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg had declared that the state government will go ahead with the construction of three more hydroelectric dams, all based on cascading designs.
They will be constructed by private companied across Sungai Gaat at Kapit district (in central Sarawak), Sungai Tutoh at Baram district (in northern Sarawak), and Sungai Belaga at Belaga district (central Sarawak).
“The local communities in Baram, Kapit and Belaga have wanted these new dams to be constructed to supply electricity for them," he had claimed.
Abang Johari did not disclose how much money will be spent on the projects or when construction will start.
He claimed that the dams will not flood “very big regions” but did not disclose how large an area will be taken over by water for each project.
Sarawak already has five huge dams – Bakun, Batang Ai, Murum, Baleh and Bengoh.
The distribution of the electricity to be generated will be controlled by Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) which is owned by the state government.
Environmental watchdog group Save Rivers Network has pointed to a 2015 report by then SEB chief executive officer Datuk Torstein Sjotveit which stated that cascading dams are not practical for a state like Sarawak vulnerable to prolonged dry spells and even serious drought.
The report had said that such dams were more expensive to build compared to those with conventional designs, stressed Save Rivers chairman Peter Kallang.
He also pointed out that social and human rights problems generated by the construction of the previous dams have lingered on until today.
Kallang noted 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 – The Vibes, January 17, 2024
