Firm risks contempt with dam work

Firm risks contempt with dam work

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): The builder of Malaysia's US$5.5
billion Bakun hydroelectric dam, Ekran Bhd, risks being held in
contempt of court if it does not stop work on the project, a
lawyer who argued the case said yesterday.

The Malaysian High Court on Wednesday ordered work halted on
the massive dam, to be built in a Borneo rainforest in Sarawak
state, because of an improper Environmental Impact Assessment.

"We'll seek contempt proceedings against Ekran if it goes
ahead with the dam's construction," said Gurdial Singh Nijar, one
of the lawyers representing three tribal residents who brought
the suit against Ekran and the government.

"All contracts signed on the dam could also be deemed illegal
because they involve the furtherance of an activity regarded
wrong in law," Nijar told a news conference.