Sarawak - Articles Sarawak's excess energy Perfect time to stop Bakun SARAWAK is presently generating about 700MW of electricity with a capacity for expansion of up to 1,000MW. This present supply is already sufficient for the state. If Sarawak has to absorb another 700MW from the Bakun HEP - it will have to desperately search for projects without having the privilege to be choosy in rejecting environmentally destructive proposals. And then the state will also have to try and sell the electricity to its immediate neighbours who may well be self-sufficient. Although Bakun's diversion tunnels are almost completed, it is better for us to mitigate the losses now instead of compounding the problem further. Scrap the Bakun! Dam the demand The Malaysian Government carefully associating the idea of the Bakun Hydroelectric Project (HEP) in Belaga, Sarawak, with a certain inevitable futuristic local power demand whose annual growth in the early 1990s was around 10-15 per cent. This was a statistical favourite to convince the world that the need for the dam did hold water (no pun intended). However, the statistical denial is that our power output was growing at an annual rate of 15-20 per cent at a time when only three of our six Independent Power Producers had been commissioned. Energy is in excess in future Malaysia and the Government knew that the only way to kill troubling statistics was through the introduction of favourable statistics. Bakun, the originally RM15 billion highest rockfill dam in the world would inundate an area bigger than Singapore and all of its forest glory, endanger water quality downstream all the way to the Rajang, require 650km untested submarine cables, expose itself to the threats of earthquakes, displace 9,000 indigenous people and probably sell electricity more expensively. Its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was divided into three time-frames to be performed successively, not simultaneously, overseen by a state board headed by the Bakun-eager Chief Minister whose two sons were once shareholders in the company awarded with the turnkey contract to build the dam. The boss of this company boasted that he could actually build Bakun in 5 years when the EIA report suggested 12 years. Commissioned studies except the one performed by the Canadian anthropologist, Jerome Rousseau who refused to sign a confidentiality clause with the State. And now that we have come to these - economic downturn, Governmental take over and companies' so-called compensation dues - the sequel of an imaginary demand strikes again. Only now it strikes with the taxpayers' money with no favourable statistics to back itself. Unidentified demand order By November 1997, Bakun, which was virtually supported by huge raised finances, was in a complete mess. The submarine cables were shelved and it was decided that Bakun would never get the chance to light Peninsular Malaysia. The cancellation of the cables effectively downsized Bakun's power generating capacity by 70 to 80 per cent, reducing its capacity from an egoistic 2,400 MW to between a reluctant 500 and 700 MW. Looks like even the self-assured futuristic demand could no longer even afford to demand. But the grand question is of course, how big should the great dam be? No prizes for the right guess because the Sarawak State Government, with Bakun placed strategically and reduced mostly for the State's own local consumption, has not decided on the size either. The State Government in a statement in the New Straits Times February 15, 2000 said that it has yet to decide on the size of the multi-billion ringgit Bakun HEP. This is because "we (certainly) don't want to build a hydro dam project which would not be proportionate to the demand," said Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Dr. George Chan. With the grand question remains unanswered as the modest subject of proportions being thrown out in the open for once, we are at last back to square one - asking the First Real Grand Question regarding Bakun. How proportionate can a demand be to its supply if the latter is almost non-existent? Facts have argued that Bakun whether for Malaysia, or let alone Sarawak need not come into existence in the first place. By virtue of its mass, Bakun was economically risky. So when the risk has manifested itself, why should the Government continue to endanger the environment, the taxpayers' money and the natives for something, which is no longer "acutely in demand?" According to the above-mentioned article, 700 MW is still said to be excessive for Sarawak as the State is already generating about 700 MW of electricity presently with a capacity for expansion up to 1,000 MW - sufficient to cater its energy needs from existing sources such as coal, hydro, gas and diesel. It is not as if we have the ability to store electricity for future use - electricity, once produced and not utilised will immediately be wasted. However instead of choosing to call-off the dam, now the Sarawak State Government wants to sell the Bakun-generated electricity to neighbouring countries such as Brunei and Indonesia. Large dams have been scientifically established time and again as producers of massive immediate environmental and extensive ecological destruction. Rotting vegetation could emit amounts of carbon dioxide and methane that are higher than the equivalent of a fossil fuel energy generation. From upriver way to the river mouths, the natural population balance of river inhabitants will be re-adjusted artificially - fish may be killed, menacing organisms might multiply and new waterborne diseases may painfully make their presence felt. (Note the extensiveness of the Rajang river system.) Silt-free water flowing from the dam will cause the proliferation of algae and phytoplankton thus requiring more chlorine in its treatment for human use. Decreased flow downstream leads to bank collapse, saline intrusion of the water table and coastal erosion. And the list is endless. To worsen things, presently there are already well-documented reports of the social, cultural, economic and nutritional problems that the displaced indigenous communities, who previously were living by the Balui River, are facing in their new resettlement scheme in Sg. Asap. Should the Government continue to build and finance such an environmentally hazardous and socially disruptive dam that Malaysia does not need? In the name of demand In the light of the above, there is really no logic for Tenaga Nasional Berhad and Sarawak Electricity Supply Corporation, the present project contractors, to assess the potential demand in the east ASEAN region simply because Sarawak herself cannot absorb the excess capacity of a downsized Bakun. What ASEAN country are we left with without the undersea cables? Probably Brunei alone - but then how big is Brunei? Indonesian Kalimantan has a low population, the major towns are mostly located at the other end of Borneo. It has also been noted that Kalimantan herself has a number of power projects planned. What country in its right mind is going to spend so much in building extensive transmission cables across huge thick rainforests so that they can rely on a foreign power generator that experts say will not last for more than 50 years? The Sarawak State Government should remember that Indonesia do have plans to be an electricity exporter country, besides wanting to be self-sufficient first. Sabah is far enough and it too has sufficient power supply. There is no justification for the Bakun Hydroelectric Project. Much of the taxpayers' money has been spent, it is irrational for us to continue wasting public funds for something that is expensive, environmentally degrading and socially disturbing when there is no urgent local or neighbouring demand for it. With excess energy, we are at a chronic losing end. Will we have the bargaining power to prevent high-energy-consuming industries from investing in Sarawak? Will we be able to say no to industrial practices that are environmentally unsound? Will we have to accept paltry energy buying rates? As it is now Comalco Aluminium Ltd of Australia has scrapped its plan to build an aluminium refinery in Bintulu, only to express its interest in setting up an aluminium smelter plant in the area, which would require some 600 MW of electricity, approximately the rate of Sarawak's energy consumption. In Sun Biz on March 6, 2000, Datuk Amar Dr George Chan announced that with Comalco's plans, the State "is keen" to see the Bakun HEP materialise. Is it not ridiculous that now we need Comalco and its mega energy consumption to justify Bakun and "be keen" about it? What sort of environmental price do we have to pay for a smelter that powerful? Why do we have to do this to ourselves? Drop the Dam The State and Federal Governments' determination in pursuing the project is bordering on childish silliness - many are having the impression that Bakun is built merely to save face. Is it so difficult to exercise simple decency in spending the rakyat's money? Since we are so self-conscious, let it be reminded that the world is looking at Malaysia. When the situation is beyond repair and the money wasted is beyond apology, then only will we acknowledge, borrowing a Malay proverb, how mighty the sky is. Sure, Government leaders are remembered for mammoth structures, but often not fondly. They are often cherished for their wisdom, integrity, democracy and their sense of humility to the rakyat. Although the diversion tunnels are said to be 75 per cent completed, it is better for us to mitigate the losses that have already been incurred instead of compounding the problem further into proportions that will mortify Malaysia forever. Already, the work conditions at the construction site are said to be so bad that local workers have refused to work there. There are also rumours of nasty accidents taking place. Malaysia does not need another white elephant - especially with blood of the environment glued on its stomping feet and the tears of the natives sucked by its trunk. Jerome Rousseau in his seminar paper entitled "The Bakun Hydroelectric Project and Resettlement: A Failure of Planning" reminded us in 1995 that, "some people want to build Bakun Dam as a monument to Malaysia. It will be a monument to greed, arrogance and selfishness." In view of all these factors, we call for the scrapping of the totally unnecessary Bakun Hydroelectric Project.