Maharaja Lawak (Edisi Borneo Post) Part 3: Them Damn Dams

Oni wat ya nai skia bogo dam?

If there was any agenda that's been really hyped about in recent months for Sarawak, it has definitely got to be this particular dam project, which is; The Baram Dam. Now why am I relating my longtime dissent with The Borneo Post newspaper with this particular dam?  Take a look at this article:

Committee Wants Baram Dam Scrapped

by Cecilia Sman, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on May 6, 2012, Sunday

LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE’S VOICE: (Back row from second left) Peter and Philip joined by others in holding a peaceful demonstration concerning Baram Dam at the venue where a closed door meeting was held for the project.

MIRI: The Baram Protection Action Committee is appealing to both the state and federal governments to scrap the proposed Baram hydroelectric dam project. Its chairman Philip Jau claimed that the majority of the people from 26 villages affected by the project opposed it. 

“Only certain village headmen and community leaders have agreed to the proposed dam. They have not been fully briefed on its advantages and disadvantages. “If our community leaders, our Temenggong and penghulus, cannot defend our rights then they should resign. That is why we insist on seeing them here, including Senator Lihan Jok,” Philip told reporters on Friday. 

Philip and Peter Kallang, chairman of SAVE Rivers Network, were among a score of people from Baram who demonstrated peacefully at the compound of Miri Resident’s Office before a scheduled meeting on the proposed dam. The meeting venue, which was later shifted to the nearby Miri City Council, was chaired by Lihan, who is the chairman of the Consultative Committee for the proposed dam.The meeting was attended by community leaders from Baram, and representatives from Sarawak Energy Bhd, Miri Resident’s Office and relevant government agencies. Peter and his group did not get the chance to meet Lihan. 

Meanwhile, Peter claimed that letters of appeal from them and those opposing the dam had been sent to the relevant authorities, but they had not received any response so far. “We have been writing so many letters. We have written to the prime minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) and Philip has handed personally the letter to Najib when he was in Long Banga, and both of us have given it personally to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Muhyiddin Yassin when he was in Lapok. We have also written a letter to Sarawak Energy Berhad.” Peter alleged that the government had failed to disclose all information concerning the proposed dam, and appealed to the government to listen to the voice of the people. 

“In any case, we have studied up to 50,000 dams that have been built in the world, and there are only one or two cases where the people are satisfied with the resettlement arrangements. “If you have one or two chances out of 50,000, that means the chance that you are going to fail is more than sure as far as the Malaysian government is concerned. “So, the government must consider the people first … after all the slogan of 1Malaysia is People’s first, action now.  We strongly agree with the slogan, but (the government) must abide by the slogan. It should not just sound good on radio or television.”

Okay, that was article number one...now read this second article:

Community Support for Baram Dam

by Saiful Bahari, reporters@theborneopost.com,. Posted on May 18, 2012, Friday

A Federation of Orang Ulu Association Malaysia delegation conveys backing for project at a meeting with state leaders.

KUCHING: After initial misgivings, the people who will be affected by the Baram Hydro Electric Project (HEP) have collectively agreed to give their support to its implementation. This message was conveyed to the state government at a meeting between representatives of Federation of Orang Ulu Association Malaysia (Forum) which represents nine ethnic groups dwelling mainly in the Baram district and Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) complex here, yesterday. 

The dam project which will affect about 10,000 people from 24 longhouses in the area had faced objections from them as they feared they would be adversely affected by the resettlement. However, they changed their mind and supported the project after realising the benefits it would bring to them. Speaking to the press on behalf of his people after the meeting, Orang Ulu community leader Temenggong Pahang Ding said: “We see it as an opportunity for the people of the area, and view it as a catalyst for rural transformation in Baram.” 

Forum president Gerawat Gala said the project would provide new opportunities for residents in the district to improve their lot. “It is our request to the state government that those affected could be assured of a better future, with improved livelihood through the implementation of the hydroelectric project, which will accelerate development in Baram,” he added. Jabu who is also the Rural and Land Development Minister disclosed that the people had also agreed that only one committee headed by Baram MP Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan and Senator Lihan Jok as the deputy chairman would represent the population affected by the Baram HEP.

“The committee will be working with the state government steering committee on matters regarding the project, the affected families and villagers and other related agencies,” he said. On resettlement of the affected villagers, Jabu said a 21st century village would be built for them near the Murum and Bakun area. “The proposed site, located somewhere near Usun Apau is actually near to the ancestral land of the Kayan and Kenyah community. The government will look into other matters as well such as adequate compensation and improved livelihood and opportunities for the people.” 

Jabu said that a discussion would be held with Sarawak Energy Berhad to train locals to work at the project site. “We will identify what sort of jobs will be available and ensure the locals will have the opportunity to work and gain from the project,” he added. Asked on the current project progress, Jabu said that it was still in the preliminary stage and things had been moving smoothly according to plan. Jabu commended Forum for supporting the project and expressed his relief that the locals now supported the implementation of the project adding that while they would be duly compensated for the land acquired, the more important thing is the long-term benefits that they would get from the project. 

The Baram HEP, which will be half the size of Bakun Dam is expected to generate around 940 to 1,000 megawatt of power. The Orang Ulu community leaders who are members of Forum accompanied by Assistant Minister of Culture and Heritage Liwan Lagang and Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau later adjourned to a closed-door meeting with Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in the same building.

If you notice the dates, the gap between these two articles was only 12 days, which is less than a fortnight. Amazingly, our government is so good at persuasion that everyone is enlightened about the goodness of the dam just 12 days after they made a hoo-haa of everything prior to this particular meeting in Kuching. It makes me wonder how they easily make a 360 turn on their own decision! Unbelievable.

So now, since 'everyone' is so happy about the Baram Dam and is anxious to see what development and modernization it brings, I'm gonna attempt to do the same kind of enlightenment. My method is probably even simpler, just read this article from the same newspaper published last Sunday:

Unresolved After 14 Years

by Peter Sibon, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on June 17, 2012, Sunday

COMING BACK: Eling looking out at the doorway of Luhat’s jelatong. Luhat has cleared the land on the hill behind his jelatong for farming.

Sg Asap residents frustrated over broken promises moving back to Bakun to live on jelatong

SUNGAI ASAP: After almost 14 years, the people of Sg Asap Resettlement Scheme are still clamouring for the fulfillment of promises made to them in return for relocating from their ancestral homes to make way for the Bakun dam. According to Luhat Tugau, an entrepreneur from Uma Belor, his people had been shortchanged in land allocation, cash compensation, housing materials and awarding of scholarship under the Bakun Trust Fund. 

He said if these broken promises were not rectified, Sg Asap Resettlement Scheme could not be considered a model resettlement scheme for other dam projects in future. Uma said the biggest issue yet to be resolved in the resettlement of his people to Sg Asap was land compensation for each family. He disclosed that in 1992 before the dam was constructed they were promised 15 hectares per family but before they moved from their homes in 1998, the promised acreage had shrunk to seven hectares.

ENTERTAINING GUESTS: Luhat serving barbequed fish to his guests. On his left is his wife Dora.

BOUNTY OF THE WILD: Luhat casting his net in a stream located not far from his jelatong.

“By the time we moved out to our new homes, the actual acreage allocated to us was only three acres per family,” Luhat told the Borneo Post at Uma Belor here recently. His anger and frustration was shared by fellow villager, Eling Igang, who until now refused to accept the land title which has been released to him. Eling argued that he would rather not take the three acres of land given to him because it would mean he accepted to be cheated. “Instead, I want to build my jelatong (floating house) in the lake and claim back whatever land we have lost,” he said. 

Currently there about 200 people like Luhat and Eling, who had gone back to Bakun to build jelatong on the lake as a way to claim back their land under the water. “We can build our jelatong and at the same time we can still fish, hunt and farm the land next to our jelatong,” they said. Luhat is the first jelatong owner to turn his floating house into a homestay. 

On cash compensation, Luhat said the amount promised to them was still not paid in full. “In my case, the relevant authorities still owe me at least RM50,000 from the amount they have promised me,” he said. He believed that many others also faced the same problem but could not voice their views. Another sore in the resettlement exercise was the inferior building materials used to build their longhouses and the designs of the houses. “We started to repair our homes after staying here for seven year. On the eighth year, we have to spend our compensation money not only to buy better materials but also to expand and re-partition our houses as they were too small.” 

Touching on the scholarship fund, Luhat alleged that his eldest son was deprived of a scholarship due to him from the Bakun Trust Fund to pursue his studies in a technical college in the Peninsular Malaysia. “His result was good enough to earn him a scholarship. But his application was turned down even after my wife and I appealed to the Bakun Trust Fund management,” he added. And what saddened Luhat the most was that only about one quarter of the some 10,000 relocated to Sg Asap actually stayed back at their villages as the rest had left the area in search of job opportunities. 

“And out of the some 2,500 left behind, I reckoned that about half of them have moved out to the jelatong as they cannot farm, fish and hunt at Sg Asap,” he added.

So, I am not gonna say if the dam should should not be built. I'm just here stating my opinion on the issue. If we look at the bigger picture. In a scientific analysis, it is always good to have a control experiment when one does any kind of quantitative research. In this scenario, Bakun Dam is the control experiment, the things that have happened and the things that are happening now is the direct result of the decision to build the Bakun Dam. 

But you know what's really really sad?

The things that have happened to the people of Bakun were not purely a reflection of what they wanted. They never wanted to leave in the first place...but was instead forced to leave. They leave expecting promises to be fulfilled, in which it hasn't. So their fate was decided by people who never even set foot on their land! Half of the people making the decisions live all the way across the South China Sea. If you ask any of the decision makers...do they even know Mr. Luhat Tugau? No...they don't know, AND they don't care. So, do you think they will care for the people of Baram once Baram Dam is done? Same situation applies to our own Bidayuh homeland of Bengoh later on. Just think about it.

Now, the most saddest sad thing about this entire turn of events is:

Bakun dam is running now on two turbines. Okay, so it works...but...answer this; who exactly is using that electricity? Ironically, not even the people of Sg. Asap. The electricity is currently exclusive for SCORE and Samalaju (previously known as Similajau, but they had changed the name coz it sounded too much like la***u, hahaha). However, recent events showed that Rio Tinto pulled out from its aluminium smeltering project in Sarawak (for reasons I'm not gonna talk about) which would have been the benchmark to attract other investors. Who then, is going to come in and use this electricity now that the deal has been scrapped? Who? All that electricity, but for who? Better think fast or else, the money to pay back the cost of the dam is never gonna materialize.

Theoretically, Bakun has the capacity to power up to 2 aluminium smelters. So, is Samalaju going to consist of only two companies (if both use equal capacity to an aluminium smelter)? So if we have 8 investors with similar capacity...it indirectly means we need 4 dams the size of Bakun. Catch 22 situation: the problem is, right now, there isn't even a single client in SCORE buying the electricity from Bakun dam alone..so doesn't that mean even just one dam is unproductive? Why then are they going all out trying to build more dams?

But throw all this chaotic macroeconomics aside, point of the matter is, who ends up being the victim? People like Mr. Luhat Tugau...the ordinary people like you and me. Like I said before, just think about it....

Damn these dams.