Sarawak's indigenous people not happy with Bakun project

Sarawak's indigenous people not happy with Bakun project

It is going to be one of Asia's largest hydro-electric projects. But Sarawak's indigenous people are not impressed. Kalinga Seneviratne of Inter Press Service reports.

PENANG: When completed, the Bakun dam in the eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak will be Southeast Asia's biggest power scheme.

Malaysia wants to be a developed country by 2020, and power from the Bakun is supposed to catapult the country into the next century. Part of the 2,400 megawatts of energy generated will be exported to other Southeast Asian countries through the world's longest undersea transmission cable.

But Malaysian and international activists say the country's economic juggernaut is trampling the rights of Sarawak's indigenous people. They say mega-projects of this kind are not sustainable, and damage valuable biodiversity and cultural heritage.

This month, Sarawak's ethnic groups will go to court to try to stop Bakun, saying the project will destroy lush rainforests, flood an area the size of Singapore and displace more than 9,000 indigenous people.

In January the Kuala Lumpur High Court will begin hearing the case filed by three indigenous communities against dam developer Ekran, the Director-General of Environment and the Malaysian government.

While the local people are worried about the loss of their livelihood, others question the model of development that Malaysia is following in its drive to modernize.

The government for its part has poured scorn on green groups, accusing them of trying to Keep Sarawakans in the stone age and seeking to sabotage the country's progress.

But in their lawsuit, the indigenous people challenge approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment for the project since they were not consulted. We are not against development, they say, but development must not ignore us.

"We were never consulted about it. In 1985, when it was suddenly announced by the government that they wanted to build a dam we were really surprised," ethnic Kayan leader Harrison Ngau said in an interview in Penang.

The Kayans are the biggest indigenous community that will be affected by the Bakun dam. The others are the Kenyah, Penan, Lahanan and Ukit ethnic groups.

Ngau was an independent member of the Federal Parliament from 1990 to 1995. "When I raised questions in parliament (about Bakun Dam) they always tried to avoid a reply by saying it was not decided yet," he said.

Ngau also claimed the ruling party mobilized all its machinery against him at this year's national polls, telling people they would not give them development if they voted for him.

Erkan, the company that will build the dam, is planning big palm oil plantations in the area and has promised jobs to those who will be displaced. It is also offering them poultry farming opportunities in settlement areas, and encouraging the locals to work on the construction site.

"We are told to sacrifice for the national interest," says Ngau. But he says the experience of the native people of Batang Ai in Serawak, where a dam was built, does not give them confidence. "They are suffering (because) they didn't get enough land and the soil is not suitable for cultivation."

The Penang-based Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of the Earth) says its problem with Bakun type development is the lack of consultation and the veil of secrecy over the project.

"Despite 10 years of incessant calls for public accountability from relevant parties, we are still as much in the dark as we were in 1985," said Gurmit Singh, adviser to the Environment Protection Society of Malaysia, at a recent seminar.

He said the Malaysian notion of accountability has generally been vague, perhaps due to Malaysia's feudal background and the British colonial legacy of ignoring the natives. But he warned that if people are denied basic information affecting their lives, resentment would built up and could explode one day.

At a meeting with Bakun residents in August, Deputy Premier Anwar Ibrahim blasted activist groups as anti-development. He said change was inevitable and people should not be afraid of it.

"When the Bakun project is implemented, the people will have among other things an airport, roads and other infrastructural facilities benefiting a modern township," he said.

The government has identified 45,000 hectares to relocate the indigenous groups. It says a feasibility study has shown the land is suitable to grow oil palm, rubber, pepper and rice. It has also promised yet unspecified but substantial compensation payments to help the people resettle in these lands.

In a recent TV interview, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said his government had plans to develop ecotourism in Bakun so everybody could benefit. He said Malaysia's power needs will increase as it continues its rapid industrialization, and argued water is the cheapest and cleanest source of energy.

"We believe Bakun is permanent. As long as there is rain, there will be energy from Bakun," he said, adding it was not the public, but the NGOs which were making an issue out of it.

Activists, however, stress the real issue is transparency. They are suspicious of Erkan head Ting Pek Khiing's close links with government leaders. "Khiing already got a bonus of the timber license free," said one activist. "He's started clearing and subcontracting it. He'll make a pile that way. One fear is that after he makes his pile from timber he'll back out."

There are an estimated US$200 million worth of timber resources in the area, including some one million cubic metres of export quality logs, 10 million cubic metres of smaller logs and 12 million cubic metres of chipwood.

Work on the Bakun dam will begin in June and is expected to be completed in five years.

-- IPS