BAKUN DAM REVIVAL IS NOT JUSTIFIED
1st March 2001

SAM is extremely disappointed that the Federal Government has decided to proceed with the Bakun hydro-electric project at its original scale, without even considering the many environmental, social and economic factors that indicate that the project should be completely shelved.

It is well known that the Bakun project will inundate tropical forests in an area larger than the size of Singapore, endanger water quality downstream all the way to the Rejang, expose the area to the threats of earthquakes, and has displaced more than 9,000 indigenous people to a place and condition unsuitable for human habitation.

The revived Bakun project is expected to generate 2,400 MW of electricity. SAM has time and again expressed concern that there is absolutely no need and no justification for the generation of such a massive amount of energy. Originally, this 2,400MW was for the whole country, including Peninsular Malaysia. Now that the undersea cables have been shelved, the government expects Sarawak and Sabah to utilise much of this electricity.

Instead of choosing to call-off the obviously redundant dam, the government wants to build the dam at full scale and sell the electricity to Brunei and Indonesia.

Sarawak is already generating 700MW of electricity presently with a capacity for expansion up to 1000MW - sufficient to cater to all its energy needs. It must be remembered that electricity once produced cannot be stored, and if not utilised will be immediately wasted. Sarawak itself cannot absorb the excess capacity of Bakun when a downsizing to 700MW was suggested. Brunei is a small country - how much can it absorb? And Kalimantan has a low population with most towns located at the other end of Borneo. Kalimantan has a number of power projects in the pipeline. Sabah, too has sufficient power supply. It therefore defies logic that the government should choose to proceed with the project.

A recent report of the World Commission of Dams in November 2000 has also questioned the logic of large dams. The World Commission of Dams (WCD) was set up in May 1998 by the World Bank to conduct an independent review of the effectiveness of large dams, assess alternatives and propose guidelines for future decision making.

The decision of the government to proceed with Bakun completely ignores the findings of the WCD Report that large dams cause the forced displacement of communities without adequate consultation and compensation, that they irreversibly destroy massive ecological sytems in a river, they cause a loss of income to the people who depend on these systems, they have exceeded their budget estimates by an average of 50% and failed to function as planned.

Apart from the obvious lack of need and justification for the energy to be generated by the dam in East Malaysia, the government has continuously ignored the plight of the indigenous people resettled at the Asap Resettlement site.

When the dam was mooted, the Federal and State Governments promised the indigenous peoples that they will have a better quality of life. SAM is shocked that the Minister of Energy can confidently say that the resettlement of the people has been solved when such is not the case. All the problems at the resettlement site continue to remain are in fact getting worse without steps being taken to reassess or improve the situation.. People are moving back to their old settlements because to them, life is unbearable in the Asap resettlement site.

SAM's investigations at the resettlement scheme in Asap have found that the communities there are living under tragic conditions. The longhouses which they were forced to purchase at the price of RM52,000 each 'bilik' are in deplorable condition. Facilities are inadequate. Distances to shops and schools are too far and public transport is scarce. Food is in short supply as the land provided for cultivation is small and of poor quality. Residents do not have enough money to buy food as work is limited and the women are unable to supplement the family income. Malnutrition is common and some only have one meal a day! Many natives are finding it very hard to survive. The once proud natives of the Bakun region have been reduced to this deplorable state due to the broken promises of the State Government and its agencies.

SAM therefore urges the Government to reconsider its decision to proceed with the dam and to heed the call of the people to shelve this project which has been dogged by lack of transparency and poor planning right from the very beginning. There is absolutely no justification for the dam either from an environmental, social or economic standpoint. It is not prudent to proceed as planned.

SAM reiterates its' call for immediate steps to be taken to look into and remedy the problems that exist at Asap, or just allow the people to return to their original homes upriver.

S.M.Mohd. Idris
President