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.