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