KUCHING: Save Sarawak’s Rivers Network (Save Rivers) has described as ‘alarming’ Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB)’s outright rejection of professional opinions and recommendations regarding the construction of mega hydroelectric power (HEP) dams.
Save Rivers said SEB attitude on this matter could mean a looming disaster for Sarawak and its people.
He referred to the article published by The Borneo Post on July 11, 2015, under the headline `No time for nonsense’”. In that article, SEB ignored the university’s study on dam construction and dismissed it as “unfounded”.
“From this statement, it is clear that SEB’s chief executive officer Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit’s obsession in building mega HEP dams obscures reasons and farsightedness,” said Save Rivers in a press statement yesterday.
It pointed out that the study carried out by Prof Daniel Kammen and Dr Rebekah Shirley from the University of California, Berkeley, on Sarawak was brushed aside by Torstein.
The two professionals from the university said the clearing and flooding of forest lands to prepare for the state’s three mega hydroelectric dams in Bakun, Murum and the proposed Baram had or could impact an estimated two-thirds of all trees and arthropod species in Borneo, which is one of the most bio-diverse rainforests in the world.
The list includes those on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of critical and endangered species. The study also concluded that besides being destructive, mega dams were expensive and not sustainable.
“It recommends alternative and sustainable source of energy,” stressed the statement.
Save Rivers said that previously, Torstein also dismissed the professional opinion of Alexander Yan, former director of Mineral and Geoscience Department on the dangers of building mega dams on fault lines.
“The attitude by Datuk Torstein just goes to prove the truth of what SEB’s former project director for the Murum Hydroelectric project, Andrew Pattle, wrote,” it stressed.
The statement said Pattle, who was seconded to SEB from Hydro Tasmania, wrote on Hydro Tasmania’s website that “Safety and environmental compliance are not given as much importance here in Malaysia.”
“Torstein is being very unprofessional when SEB itself has yet to release its own studies on their planned mega dam projects in the state for public scrutiny and subject it to professional and scientific criticisms from other parties.
“We, in SAVE Rivers, in solidarity with all those who are victims of mega dams in Sarawak, challenge SEB to come out publicly with all their studies and subject it to professional critique by other parties, and let the public decide who is actually talking nonsense.”
The statement reiterated that SEB’s rhetoric about engaging communities and getting opinions from other parties were mere hogwash as it is clear that Torstein was only interested to listen to his paymaster and bulldoze the state government’s plans to proceed with their dam building policy.
“This is not the first time that Datuk Torstein’s has dismissed professional opinions on mega dam development in the state.
“We wish to remind Datuk Torstein that flooding large forested areas and native customary lands is no laughing matter and should not be brushed aside as nonsense.
“We are dead serious in defending our customary lands and preserving the environment and to putting an end to this dam building by SEB and the state government,” added the statement.
The proposed Baram HEP would have a generating capacity of 1,200MW.-Borneo Post
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