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Halt construction of more dams in Sarawak

  • Publication Date | August 8, 2017
  • Document Type | Letter to the Editor
  • Programmes | Development & Planning
  • Issues | Dams, Indigenous Peoples, Land Rights
  • Tags | Baram, Lawas, Sarawak Energy Berhad, Trusan
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SAM is gravely concerned with the proposal to proceed with the construction of the Trusan dam in Lawas, Sarawak, as announced by its Chief Minister on July 21. The dam has a planned generation capacity of 275 MW. It is one of the 12 hydroelectric projects proposed for Sarawak, which also include the Murum, Baram and Baleh dams. The Murum dam has already been completed. The construction of the Baleh dam, with a planned generation capacity of 1,285 MW, is expected to commence in October 2018 and completed in 2025.

However, the construction of the Baram dam was called off by the former Chief Minister of Sarawak, the late Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem, in March 2016, amid the sustained blockade and protest by affected communities. As reported by Channel News Asia later in May 2016, Adenan stressed that the cancellation of the Baram dam was the result of his examination on the matter. “Thereʼs no need to have another big dam. We can have mini dams and so on, but not a big dam especially when we donʼt supply (power) to west Malaysia anymore.”

According to the Energy Commission in its annual publication, ‘Performance and Statistical Information on Electricity Supply Industry in Malaysia 2015’, the total installed generation capacity for Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) in 2015 stood at 2,241 MW while the maximum demand during the same year registered at 2,288 MW. This however does not imply that there was a negative energy reserve margin in Sarawak. With the inclusion of the Bakun hydroelectric dam, the total installed generation capacity of Sarawak in 2015 actually stood at 4,641 MW, of which 66 per cent was sourced from hydroelectric dams. Overall, Bakun provided 50 per cent of the total unit of electricity generated in Sarawak in 2015, or at 7,721 GWh out of a total of 15,486 GWh.

For this reason, we are thus unclear of the actual level of the energy reserve margin in Sarawak in 2015. Energy reserve margin is the amount of unused electricity that is still produced to ensure that an energy provider is always ready for any sudden and unexpected increase in power demand. Therefore, we would like the Sarawak State Government to provide the public with the current and projected rates of the energy reserve margin in the state before making any decision to build more hydroelectric dams or other new power generation sources. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reportedly recommends a reserve margin of only between 20 and 35 per cent.

It appears to us that the policy for energy development in Sarawak is approached in a highly disorganised fashion. Rational decisions that had been made by a former Chief Minister, can easily be reversed just a year later. The announcement to construct the Trusan dam has been made without clear reference to any recent study to justify its development. It has also been made without prior consultations with civil society groups and most importantly, affected communities. The decision to develop hydroelectric dam after dam for a state with a population of only 2.5 million certainly defies any logic. Ironically, many of the indigenous communities living in the rural areas of the state, are still living without state-built electricity infrastructure.

The planned dams will also be flooding the forested and cultivated territories of such indigenous communities. The state had previously undertaken the involuntary relocation of the communities affected by the Batang Ai, Bakun and Murum dams in such an incompetent manner. Affected communities already traumatised by the loss of their ancestral land and traditional livelihoods continued to suffer from prolonged distress, economic hardships, socio-cultural disruptions and an overall severe drop in their quality of life in the resettlement areas.

As such, we would like to strongly urge the state to call off the plan to build the Trusan dam as well as others in the pipeline. At the same time, the state must intensify its effort to provide de-centralised and renewable sources of energy to its rural communities, be they based on solar or mini-hydroelectric dams. In addition, we also would like to know the current and projected rates of the energy reserve margin for the state. Haphazard energy planning and energy wastage will clearly affect the financial well-being of the state, especially at a time when the country is already facing various economic challenges.

S.M. Mohamed Idris

President

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Testimonials

Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah satu badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang telah sekian lama berjuang mempertahan kelestarian alam. Ia juga mendidik masyarakat tentang pentingnya kebersamaan dalam pemikiran dan tindakan agar alam ini dapat kita wariskan kepada generasi hadapan dalam keadaan yang elok dan terpelihara. Dalam pada itu juga SAM giat membantu golongan nelayan pantai dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka sehinggalah tertubuhnya Persatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING). Nelayan pantai sepenuh masa ini dididik oleh SAM sehingga mereka mampu memainkan peranan sebagai pemimpin nelayan yang meneruskan kesinambungan memperjuangkan hak-hak nelayan pantai lainnya. Sebagai contoh SAM telah berjaya menyedarkan masyarakat nelayan keperluan menjaga hutan paya bakau untuk kebaikan hasil tangkapan nelayan itu sendiri.
Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik
Jamaluddin Mohamad BualikPersatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Jaringan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING)
During the 1980s, I used to read about the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) in the news. After retirement, some time in 2001, while lazing around, I read news about the construction of a carbon in leach plant using sodium cyanide to extract gold in Bukit Koman. My friends and I visited CAP and we were introduced to SAM and her legal team. We discussed the details of filing a case against the gold mining company and the department of environment with Ms Meenakshi Raman and her legal team. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between lawyers from SAM and many of us from Bukit Koman. We had many ups and downs in our struggle to shut down the gold mine that was causing a nuisance in our village. But, as a community we never gave up because SAM had our backs.
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Hue Fui HowSecretary, Bukit Koman Ban Cyanide in Goldmining Action Committee (BCAC)
Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat luar bandar khasnya. SAM menerima aduan-aduan masyarakat dan menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi. SAM telah mewujudkan ramai aktivis-aktivis sosial dan alam sekitar. Pada era 1980 dan 90an SAM sangat dihormati oleh masyarakat dan agensi kerajaan. Apabila media sosial menguasai maklumat maka SAM pun terkesan dan masalah masyarakat terus disalurkan dengan pelbagai cara. SAM perlu mewujudkan aktivis-aktivis pelapis yang muda untuk terus membantu masyarakat. SAM juga perlu membuat perubahan supaya banyak turun kelapangan dan jangan mengharapkan laporan media sahaja. Tingkatkan prestasi sebagaimana pada zaman kegemilangan SAM di era 80-90an.
Che Ani Mt Zain
Che Ani Mt Zain
SAM taught me the importance of social activism and the role it plays in upholding the rights of people and the protection of the environment. In my experience, SAM has never hesitated to speak up in defence of people and their environment, and has gone the extra mile to champion their rights, by helping communities take their battles to the higher ups and even to the courts.
Jessica Binwani
Jessica BinwaniPublic/Private Interest Lawyer
Semenjak kami kenal SAM, banyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan yg kami dapat. Kami telah belajar cara membuat baja asli daripada SAM. Semenjak itu, bermulalah minat kami dalam aktiviti pertanian. Dengan memperolehi kemahiran dalam membuat baja asli dan penanaman lestari, kami juga telah dapat menambahkan pendapatan sampingan kami. Ini lebih baik daripada tanah kami terbiar dan tidak diusahakan. Terima kasih SAM kerana sudi memberi bantuan dan tunjuk ajar kepada Persatuan kami.
Chedo Anak Nyuwen
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My journey with SAM started when her community organisers took me to the meet the paddy farmers of Kedah, connecting my growing interest in environmental law with our people who struggle to work the land in the face of pollution, replacement of traditional seeds with commercial hybrids and their accompanying chemical package of fertilisers and weedicides. I then had the honour to work with SAM in the struggle for the rights of the native communities of Sarawak, in defence of their forests from massive logging and destructive mega-projects. In every issue that SAM takes up, she combines rigorous research with the realities and voices of the communities to advocate for policies and laws that care for people and nature. From the courts to the elected legislators to policy makers and implementers and to the United Nations, SAM walks side by side with the communities in Malaysia. How can I not be inspired by the vision and passion of the generations of women and men who coalesce to form SAM?
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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Headquarters)
No. 1, Jalan Joki, 11400 Penang,
Malaysia
Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Marudi Office)
129A, First Floor,
Jalan Tuanku Taha,
P.O.Box 216,
98058 Marudi, Baram, Sarawak,
Malaysia
Tel & Fax: +6085 758 973

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