Construction of 12 hydroelectric dams in Sarawak is disastrous to the environment and indigenous groups

http://dapmalaysia.org

Statement by Thing Siew Shuen in Petaling Jaya on Friday, 15^th August 2008:

Construction of 12 hydroelectric dams in Sarawak is disastrous to the environment and indigenous groups

According to the Sarawak state government, the combined total of 7,000 MW from the 12 proposed dams was necessary for large energy-intensive industries like aluminium smelter plants and for export - primarily to Peninsula Malaysia.

We question the sustainability of the project and raise concerns voice for the environment and the heritage sites as a result of the proposed construction of 12 hydroelectric dams in Sarawak.

Although the Sarawak Environment and Public Health Minister Michael Manyin announced that the 12 dams will be built based on mandatory EIAs following existing legislation, we doubt both the independence and credibility of the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and its effectiveness in influencing policy decisions.

According to certain local environmental groups, the government-sponsored EIAs contain falsified information which blatantly served as the tools to legitimize the construction of large dams.

The government must be transparent and release all EIA details pertaining to the dams, so that the public can evaluate the comprehensiveness of the assessments based on universally accepted parameters - taking into account factors such as the safety of human populations.

We should learn the painful lessons from the Bakun dam project that has caused more than 10,000 indigenous people to be displaced in the inferior conditions, and has destroyed primitive tropical forest the size of Singapore.

The 12 dams, like Bakun, will likewise be extravagant and unnecessary in the scale of electricity generation and unjustifiable in environmental and biodiversity destruction. The livelihood and sustainable lifestyle of indigenous communities in an already disadvantaged socio-economic position will be further affected, leading to disillusionment and serious social problems.

* Thing Siew Shuen, Environmental Officer to DAP Secretary-General