KL to appeal ruling on Bakun

KL to appeal ruling on Bakun

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia said yesterday it would launch a swift appeal to overturn a High Court ruling against a massive dam on Borneo island.

Leo Moggie, Malaysia's Telecomunication, Posts and Energy Minister, told a news conference that the cabinet decided yesterday that the High Court last Wednesday had not invalidated the Bakun dam.

He said the government had requested the attorney-general's chambers to file notice of appeal immediately. "This would enable the Bakun project to proceed with minimum delay."

The High Court last Wednesday ruled in favor of three tribesmen who will be affected by the dam, to be built in the interior of Malaysia's Sarawak state on the island of Borneo. It also said the project had violated environmental laws.

The 13.6-billion-ringgit (US$5.2-billion) dam is slated to be the world's second largest hydroelectric dam project after China's Third Gorges dam.