Logjam exposes Sarawak’s unscrupulous logging

26 October 2010



The Sarawak state government must face the shame of being exposed before the whole world for their vain attempts all these years to hide the wanton rape of the Sarawak forests, says Kua Kia Soong.

The environmental disaster of the recent 50km logjam on the Rajang River has totally exposed the Sarawak state and federal government’s attempts all these years to tell the world that they practise responsible logging. The logs and debris from upriver above Kapit have destroyed fish life and affected bridges and villages along the length of the river. The State Environment Minister has called this disaster “unprecedented and beyond imagination”.

Land Development Minister James Masing has blamed unscrupulous timber companies for the disaster. He said this was the third time in three years that such an incident had happened and called on the authorities concerned to take their job more seriously and enforce the laws stringently.

Now, if the Environment Ministry and the Land Development Ministries are not the authorities concerned with logging, who are? Even before this latest disaster, the once mighty and beautiful Rajang had long been defiled by earth and debris from irresponsible logging upstream and turned into an unsightly river the colour of teh tarik.

State govt must bear total responsibility

For years, the Sarawak state government has ruthlessly kept out NGO activists such as me from their own country state of Sarawak. The reason given by the Immigration officers at Kuching Airport is that we have been excluded for “anti-logging activities”. This is a total disgrace for Malaysia, which tries to pride itself as a modern democratic country that practises human rights.

Sarawak’s Chief Minister Abdul Taib bin Mahmud has dominated politics for the past two decades. He has the sole authority to grant or deny logging concessions. The licensing of logging concessions has been used as a political tool and a means to amass personal wealth. Timber tycoons and the ruling government party own controlling interests in all the major newspapers, TV stations and radio stations and they ensure that all information about logging, corruption and nepotism ise censored.

Thus, the Sarawak state government must bear total responsibility for this latest disaster and face the shame of being exposed before the whole world for their vain attempts all these years to hide the wanton rape of the Sarawak forests. Sarawak has been reliant on timber as the largest source of revenue for the state for too long. It contributes nearly a billion ringgit annually, or about 37 per cent of the total state revenue. Logging companies have wantonly encroached on forest that traditionally belongs to the Kayan, Kenyah, and Penan. Deforestation has also resulted in the decimation of jungle life that the indigenous people hunt for food. There have also been reports of logging workers robbing Penan communities, molesting their women and desecrating their graves It has been estimated that 90 per cent of the virgin jungle has been logged in the past 40 years alone.

Kua Kia Soong is director of the human rights group Suaram

Source: Aliran
URL: http://aliran.com/3131.html

Forestry: an unnatural disaster in Sarawak

22 October 2010

By Pak Bui

Sarawak Forestry Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and forestry department director Len Talif Salleh has dismissed the horrific ecological and infrastructure damage wrought by the Rejang log-jam as a “natural disaster”.

Len Talif argued that heavy rain, rather than over-logging or the impoundment of the Bakun Dam, had caused a catastrophic pile-up of cut logs and debris on the surface of Malaysia’s largest river. The accumulation of rubbish had blocked river traffic, wrecked boat jetties and killed fish and aquatic life, leaving communities without an important source of nutrition.

The forestry head tried to buttress his claims using technology. He said the 3D Airborne Hyperspectral Sensor taken on October 15 had shown the area was still covered by forest, but traces of landslides could be seen due to a heavy downpour at the Ulu Sungai Melatai catchment area.

Many Sarawakians are skeptical. They have traveled up the Rejang by boat, or have flown overhead, and have seen with their own ‘3D sensors’ – their eyes – the destruction caused by uncontrolled logging.

Read more here: http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/10886/

Rajang Logjam A Natural Disaster, Says Sarawak Forestry

SIBU, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- The recent logjam on the Rajang River was a natural disaster caused by heavy downpour and not by overlogging or impoundment of the Bakun Dam, according to the initial report by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation.

Sarawak Forestry chief executive officer Datuk Len Talif Salleh said the 3D Airborne Hyperspectral Sensor taken on Oct 15 showed that the area was still covered by forest but traces of landslides could be seen due to heavy downpour at the Ulu Sungai Melatai catchment area.

"We want to clarify the misconception and nonsense from an overseas source that the logjam was caused by overlogging or impoundment of Bakun Dam," he told reporters at the Sarawak Forest Department Excellence Service Award presentation here Tuesday night.

Overlogging was not an issue because there was no logging activity on both sides of Melatai River since 2006, he said.

-- BERNAMA

Rajang River is drying up

By PHILIP HII

philiphii@thestar.com.my

19 October 2010

SIBU: Less than two weeks after the logjam disaster in Rajang River, the country’s longest river is again a cause for concern for people living along its banks.

Express boats have not been able to ply the Sibu-Belaga-Sibu routes since Friday as the river is drying up due to the current dry spell. The only option left for travellers is the gruelling journey on the 190km Bintulu-Bakun road.

Floating pontoons at the Kapit Express Boat Wharf along Khoo Peng Loong Road here are now resting on a muddy river bed.

“This time the water level went down really fast. Just 10 days ago, it almost reached the road level, a drop of more than 2m,” boat skipper Lau Ah Kuok said.

Shrinking Rajang: The water level at the mighty Sungai Rajang is dropping fast as the dry spell hits Sarawak and water is being diverted into the Bakun dam. The edge of the river, which had about 2m of water (inset) is now little more than a muddy bank.

Lau said he believed the drastic change in the water level was partly due to the impoundment of the 205m-high Bakun Dam which began last Wednesday.

The flooding of the dam, which is South-East Asia’s largest, is estimated to take seven months and in the process, would flood 69,000ha of land.

Social activist Wong Meng Chuo, who has a masters degree in Environmental Management from the Imperial College in London, said he was worried that a prolonged drought would pose severe environmental and ecological consequences below Bakun Dam.

Wong said the Rajang River was denied one-third of the water source with the impoundment of the dam.

“Firstly, river navigation in some areas will stop due to low water. Secondly, salty water from the ocean would come up to as far as Sibu. Thirdly, marine and river life will be affected,” Wong pointed out.

He explained that with less water in the river, there would be less oxygen which could cause some species of fish to die. Wong added there could also be more landslides along the riverbanks as the soil structure would be different.

He said it was unlikely that the impoundment of the dam would stop because it would incur a loss of RM330,000 per day to do so.

The low water level is also a cause for concern for the RV Orient Pandaw, the only cruise ship here.

“If the dry weather continues, I am worried our ship would have difficulties navigating near the Pelagus rapids,” the ship’s purser Neville Joseph said, adding that October to December were peak seasons with an average of 40 passengers per trip.

Durin vegetable farmer Kong Chiek Wak is worried the prolonged dry weather will seriously affect his vegetables.

“We only have a small water pump. It would be difficult to pump water from the Rajang for farm use if the water level is too low,” Kong explained.

The low water level will also affect the transportation of logs by barges and cargo boats from Kapit-Baleh areas to the sawmills in Sibu or for export through Tanjung Manis.

Sibu Water Board general manager Daniel Wong said he was monitoring the situation closely.

“The water supply in Sibu is normal and there is no cause for alarm now,” he said.

At about 4.30pm yesterday, heavy rain fell for about an hour on Sibu after a dry week.

Seven-month flooding of the 205m-deep Bakun reservoir begins

By STEPHEN THEN
stephenthen@thestar.com.my

Photos by ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE

AN EERIE silence has descended on the Bakun Valley in central Sarawak following the impoundment of the Bakun Dam starting last Wednesday.

StarMetro visited the site 24 hours after the flooding start

ed and found it deserted.

The more than 4,000 workers who laboured at the site during the height of the dam’s construction from 1996 to this year have left. So have the hundreds of trucks, excavators, shovels, four-wheel drives and drilling and blasting machinery.

Gush: Water released from a diversion tunnel at the dam.

Many have been transported to the Murum Valley, 70km in

land for the construction of the Murum Dam.

The housing quarters in Bakun built by dam developer and manager Sarawak Hidro were also deserted except for several bungalows occupied by the engineers and site manag

ers overseeing the flooding of the reservoir.

They will be there for the next seven months or so until the 205m-high dam

is completely flooded.

New fate: The dried up downstream of Sungai Balui caused by the impoundment.

Once the water is at the 195m mark, the turbines can be tested.

When this is successfully done and electricity generation starts, only a handful of technical staff will be left in Bakun.

“All these areas will be flooded,” said Sarawak Hidro managing director and chief engineer Zulkifle Osman while sweeping his hands across the Bakun Valley from a high vantage point.

“Not many of us (Sarawak Hidro staff) are left. The physical construction is completed except for a few finishing touches.”

Sad moment: Akid Lopeng (right) and her daughter Akid Sidek reminiscing over the dried up downstream of Sungai Balui caused by the impoundment of the Bakum dam.

The Balui River, on which the dam is sited, is rising after the river diversion tunnels were closed last Wednesday.

Bakun folk and Sarawak Hidro are in the process of saving priceless ancestral heritage and rare flora and fauna.

Denis Hang Bilang, the Bakun joint committee secretary for Lepuun, Lebu Kulit, Uma Bakah, Uma Lesung and Uma Balui Ukap, said last Wednesday that Zulkifle had agreed that Sarawak Hidro would liaise with Sarawak Museum to salvage ancestral heritage ranging from burial remains to monuments of warriors from ancient times.

“Sarawak Hidro will also build a jetty and a rest house for our use and will forward our remaining grouses on compensation and land claims to the Prime Minister,” he added.

Source: The Star

URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F10%2F19%2Fsarawak%2F7245601&sec=sarawak

Bian offers free legal service to logjam victims

14 October 2010

By Joseph Tawie

KUCHING: PKR leader and activist lawyer Baru Bian has offered free legal service to any person or group wanting to sue Sarawak authorities and logging companies over what has been called an “ecological disaster” affecting the rivers Rajang and Baleh.

Referring to the clogging of the rivers by logs and debris, he said:

“The logjam is evidence of a failed forest or environmental policy in Sarawak. I believe anybody affected by the disaster can take legal action. I am prepared to take such action on behalf of such people on a pro bono basis.”

Bian is a well-known native customary rights (NCR) land lawyer and chairman of PKR Sarawak.

The logjam started last week with massive amounts of logs and wood debris drifting down the Rajang for about 250km, stretching from Ulu Baleh to Sibu and disrupting river communication between several towns.

It killed tonnes of fish, including Sarawak’s famous empurau, which costs about RM500 per kilo on the market.

In Kapit, scores of longhouse chiefs expressed anger at loggers who have been operating at Ulu Baleh. They alleged that it was uncontrolled logging that had caused the debris.

They are demanding compensation.

“We have lost our livelihood, especially after the death of fish at Sungai Baleh,” said one of the chiefs. “It is very difficult to catch any fish now.”

Uncontrolled logging

Fish is the source of both food and income for many people in the affected areas.

Sarawak Land Minister James Masing on Tuesday flew over the mountains of Ulu Malatai in Ulu Baleh and said the logjam was caused by landslides and soil erosion resulting from uncontrolled logging.

He said the place resembled a “war zone”.

"Landslides and soil erosions have destroyed at least three hills in the area,” a news report quoted him as saying.

"The affected area is so big that it took 10 minutes of flying time for the helicopter to reach the other end.

"You could see exposed rocks after the landslides and erosions. There is no doubt that excessive logging caused the landslides and erosions.

"The landslides and erosions must have blocked the rivers, creating a temporary dam."

When the dam burst, he added, it released large volumes of water, logs and driftwood into Sungai Baleh, Sungai Balui and Sungai Rejang.

Source: Free Malaysia Today
URL: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/sabah-and-sarawak/11537-bian-offers-free-legal-service-to-logjam-victims

‘Logjam a man-made disaster’

14 October 2010

KAPIT: Land Development Minister Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing has declared the recent logjam that clogged the Baleh and Rajang rivers a “man-made disaster”.

Masing warns of more such river destructions if uncontrolled logging unchecked

He said ecological devastation at Ulu Melatai, one of the tributaries of Baleh River, could be the main contributor to last week’s disaster.

However, the Baleh assemblyman said the Baleh River’s other tributaries could also have contributed to the devastation.

Baleh River has at least 10 tributaries similar to Ulu Melatai, such as Seranai and Entuloh.

“It is a man-made ecological disaster. It created a mud pool, which completely wiped out the flora and fauna in the area. This includes animals and fish,” Masing told The Borneo Post after a site visit to Ulu Melatai yesterday.

Ulu Melatai is located some 100km southeast of Kapit town and is very close to the Kalimantan border.

With Masing were political secretary to the Chief Minister Angeline Umis, Kapit District Officer Simon Japut Tiok and Kapit district councillor Tan Kian Hoo.

Masing attributed the devastation at Ulu Melatai to extensive logging with little or no control by the authorities.

“It is as if the loggers are in a hurry to clear the whole area above the proposed Baleh hydroelectric power dam, which is currently under feasibility studies,” he said.

He warned that more similar incidents could happen again if such manner of logging was allowed to continue.

Besides, he said, the soil along the Baleh tributaries was loose and heavily churned up by logging activities, which could easily turn into mudslides by prolonged heavy rain.

While the government’s policy on forest management was very clear, he said, greater implementation and enforcement were needed.

“I would like to urge the big boys to stop sub-contracting the jobs to others to prevent illegal logging and gangsterism in the area,” he said, adding that no such incident occurred when large companies operated in the area over the last three decades.

He added that this was the third such incident to happen at Baleh River, causing havoc to the local community.

The first was recorded in 2008 at Sg Ga’at, while last year a similar incident happened at Sg Tutoh.

According to him, the upper reaches of Baleh River are a very hilly and rugged terrain, making logging very dangerous. In a related incident, two people reportedly died in that area when the bridge was swept by the mudslide.

Both bodies have been found.

Source: Borneo Post Online

URL: http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=68502

SCANE condemns governments for allowing water impoundment for Bakun dam

13 October 2010

Miri: Sarawak Conservation Alliance for Natural Environment (SCANE) condemns both the Federal government of Malaysia and the Sarawak State government action for permitting the Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd to proceed with its water impoundment for Bakun Hydroelectric dam without having any Emergency Rescue Plan (ERP) to encounter any eventualities of environmental disasters due to dam failure.

SCANE has been informed that Sarawak Hidro will start with the water impoundment for the dam as early as from today onward. On Monday, a tragedy happened at the dam site where a long boat was capsized and a man has been reported still missing.

Once again, SCANE warns the Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd not to start but stop immediately the act of impounding water for Bakun dam by having failure of coming up with any Emergency Rescue Plan (ERP) that guarantees the safety of the communities living downstream of the dam. The government (s) and the Sarawak Hidro should not too hastily to close the river diversion tunnels to impound water for the dam until the ERP have been drawn and the public at large are well informed of the plan and that all precautionary measures are ready in place and operational.

Prior to the water impoundment for the dam, the communities downstream and public at large should be adequately and extensive informed of the adverse impacts of the dam as erecting of monstrous project like Bakun dam could entail consequences, some of which might not have been foreseen. SCANE fears that the impoundment of the dam may cause environmental disorders that would eventually trigger earthquakes, landslides and floods.

SCANE condemns the hasty act of dam impoundment and calls upon the Government and Sarawak Hidro to put in place the security and emergency plan prior to the water impoundment process for Bakun dam rather than just totally overlooked these matters and simply gambles with nature, human safety and security aspects of the dam.

30-Mile Logjam on Malaysian River Hints at Forest Crimes

October 12, 2010

By ANDREW C. REVKIN, The New York Times

It’s hardly news that the rich virgin rain forests on both the Malaysian and Indonesian sides of Borneo are being steadily sheared away, enriching a few while ravaging unique ecosystems. In fact, it’s such a persistent issue that headlines are rare.

But a 30-mile-long logjam created on Malaysia’s longest river after a heavy rainstorm last week has brought new focus to the issue, and new questions about whether the government official who runs just about everything on Sarawak, the Malaysian portion of the island, is abetting — and profiting from — an unfolding environmental disaster.

Contrast what you see in the video above, shot late last week along the Rajang River, with the gushy greenwash published by the state government on its forestry Web site:

Welcome to SARAWAK FORESTRY, and the unique vision we are planning to achieve — global recognition as the leader in tropical forest conservation and products. We are entrusted to safeguard and sustainably manage the amazing biodiversity in Sarawak’s forests — covering tens of thousands of species of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms…. Our children, our grandchildren and future generations will recognize our successful stewardship of the natural environment and its conservation.

Personally, I’m not reassured. I’m seeking a reaction from the State Department, which has made tropical forest conservation a priority under both the Obama and Bush administrations, but of course is also juggling other issues — including working with Malaysia to deter terrorism by Islamic extremists. The Sarawak government may be seeking global recognition for its sustainable forestry practices, but it would deserve global condemnation if the roots of the logjam lie in destructive, and state sponsored, logging practices.

Mike Shanahan has helpfully pulled together links to local coverage of the situation in a post at his Under the Banyan blog. Here’s a short excerpt and link to the rest:

Environment and Public Health Minister Wong Soon Koh declared the log-jam to be a “natural calamity of gigantic proportion” and blamed landslides in highland logging areas. He said: “The wooden debris which was swept away could have been accumulated there for the past 40 or more years.”

But he added that if there was evidence that human activities were to blame, “stern action will be taken against the perpetrators”. Land Development Minister James Masing blamed unscrupulous timber companies and said that whoever caused the problem should be punished.

But many local bloggers accuse these politicians of hypocrisy. They are frustrated with the decades of government policies that have enriched a powerful elite with logging dollars but have left Sarawak with just ten percent of its forest intact.

One blogger called Tbsbidayuh summed up the mood when he wrote: “Thank you to the monsoon rain for revealing state government ignorance on taking care of environment.” Read the rest.

I also encourage you to read some impressive investigative reporting in the Sarawak Report on real estate dealings of Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Sarawak official who for decades has been in charge of handing out logging permits. The newspaper, in describing Mahmud’s involvement in substantial family real estate holdings in Canada, asks a simple question:

The Preston Square development lies at the centre of the major Canadian property empire run by the developer Sakto, which was founded in the early 1980s by Taib’s college-aged son Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, his daughter Jamilah and his brother Onn Mahmud. It continues to be managed as a ‘family business’ by his now son-in-law, a Canadian, Sean Murray.

Taxpayers in Sarawak are entitled to ask how the Chief Minister’s modest 20,000 Malaysian Ringgit a month official salary [$77,000 a year] has managed to help generate a property empire worth so much. It is also well known that the Taib family own further considerable assets in Malaysia and elsewhere.

It’d be great to know the answer, and also to be sure that countries concerned about conserving tropical forests press for an honest investigation into the conditions that resulted in the great river logjam.

If you want to track the situation on the Rajang River and in Sarawak’s forests, check the Sarawak Headhunter and Hornbill Unleashed blogs.

Malaysia’s million dollar question — where did the logs come from?

11 October 2010

The 50-km long log-jam that blocked Malaysia’s biggest river shows the scale of deforestation in the highlands of Borneo and raises fresh concerns about how the state of Sarawak manages its natural resources.

This is Malaysia’s mighty Rajang River as it has never been seen before, choked from side to side — for kilometre after kilometre — by thousands upon thousands of dead trees.

Read more here: http://underthebanyan.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/malaysias-million-dollar-question-where-did-the-logs-come-from/

Source: Under The Banyan

Ecological havoc: State govt panned

12 October 2010

By Joseph Tawie

KUCHING: Sarawak PKR today slammed the state government for its failure to prevent an “ecological disaster” when timber mass and debris clogged the Rajang River for the past five days.

“Its failure to contain the problem shows poor governance and incompetence in dealing with the consequences of developments.

“Sarawakians will suffer greater losses in terms of socio-economic costs and ecological damage,” PKR information chief See Chee How said.

“After five days, the state government is still in the dark as to its root cause,” said See, pointing out that whenever it rains in the upper reaches of major rivers, floods are reported in towns along and at the lower reaches of the rivers.

See was commenting on the massive logjam caused when tonnes of logs and wood debris drifted down the Rajang River for about 250km, stretching from Ulu Baleh to Sibu.

As a result, river communication by express boats was disrupted between Sibu and other towns such as Kanowit, Song and Kapit.

Tonnes of dead fish such as Sarawak’s famous fish empurau which cost about RM500 per kilo have been found floating in the river.

“I agree with (Land Development Minister) James Masing that this is an ecological disaster,” See said.

“I feel constrained to agree with Masing when he urged the state government not to take an ‘ostrich’ approach,” See said, adding that Masing’s call to his cabinet colleagues to take stern action was quite “bizarre”.

“It is certainly weird when he asked the state government not to adopt an ostrich approach (in tackling the problem). However, I would also like to call on Masing to keep his head above the sand and tell us what he has done in the Cabinet.

“This is the third ecological havoc which has seriously affected the livelihood of the people in Baleh,” he said.

The first disaster was at Ga’at in 2008 and the second at Sungai Tunoh last year.

Uncontrolled logging

Furthermore, See said, the state disaster and relief management committee had stated that the massive flow of log and timber mass and debris “was believed to have originated from Putai and Nungan in the upper reaches of Baleh River”.

As state assemblyman for Baleh, Masing, who is also Parti Rakyat Sarawak president, should not just point fingers at others, he added.

“However, he is not the minister who issued timber concession licences for the indiscriminate logging in Ulu Baleh, which had caused tonnes of timber mass and enormous debris to flow down the Rajang River.

“At least, it is now clear who Masing was referring to as an ostrich. No wonder he sounded angry, yet helpless, even though he is in his Cabinet,” he said.

Meanwhile, Masing said that whoever caused the massive logjam in the Rajang River should be punished.

He said blamed the disaster on uncontrolled logging in the upper reaches of Baleh River.

He urged the relevant authorities to investigate the matter and make the culprits accountable.

“This is an ecological disaster. The mud has killed fish in the rivers for over 100km.

“The government cannot be an ostrich on this issue. My people have suffered so much from this incident,” he added.

Source: Free Malaysia Today
URL: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/pakatan-rakyat/11425-ecological-havoc-state-govt-panned

Bakun Dam ‘is an economic rip-off’

October 11, 2010
By Joseph Tawie

The construction of the Bakun and seven other dams plus the coal-fired power plants are economic rip-offs – they are Sarawak’s own get-rich-quick schemes.

“The massive sums involved in building these large dams would certainly guarantee handsome profits for the privileged project proponents,” said See Chee How, Sarawak PKR information chief.

“This is not development for Sarawak, but an economic rip-off. Sarawak-owned get-rich-quick schemes have exhausted our timber resources.

“Almost all our agricultural land have been leased out,” he said when commenting on the astronomical costs of constructing the Bakun Dam.

PKR, he said, wants the government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry or a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry to find out the final costs of the Bakun hydro-electric project and where the money has gone to.

“The commission should also re-examine the cost-benefit analysis and the economic viability of the Bakun project,” said See.

See added that the original cost was estimated at RM3.95 billion in 1983 and RM4.09 billion in 1985. With cost overruns and compensation for delays and interests, the final tag is believed to have escalated to RM15 billion today.

“But Malaysians have been kept in the dark as to the final costs and where the substantial additional sums have gone to,” he said.

India’s experience

“Even with the cost now estimated by the federal government at RM7.3 billion, double the original estimate, there is a need to re-examine the cost benefit analysis and the economic viability of the Bakun project” said See.

“It must be borne in mind that only one out of the originally planned eight hydro turbines will be commissioned next year, reducing its power generating capacity from 2,400MW to 300MW.

“Take India’s experience: it has more than 3,000 dams but 60% of them are economically non-viable financial disasters because they are not able to recoup their investments.”

“The Sarawak BN government owes all Sarawakians an explanation. We want Second Planning and Resource Management Minister Awang Tengah Ali Hassan to give us his reason for saying that the Bakun Dam is not a white elephant.

“Sarawakians have paid their share of the cost of the RM15-billion project and we now have to fork out another RM7 billion to buy the federal project,” he said.

“What is the actual cost to all Sarawakians? We have not included the socio-economic and environmental costs which all Sarawakians have to bear.

“Bakun was originally projected to generate 2,400MW power. If the state government is convinced that Bakun is economically viable, Sarawakians should be convinced that it can generate the 2,400MW power.

“Otherwise, what is the justification for the seven new dams and more coal-fired power plants?” he asked.

Source: Hornbill Unleashed

URL: http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/10544/

50km logjam on the Rajang river

By PHILIP HII
philiphii@thestar.com.my

Saturday October 9, 2010

SIBU: Logs and debris, stretching for 50km on the Rajang river, reached Sibu town at about 10am yesterday leaving many people shocked by the scale of what is turning out to be an environmental disaster.

“This is unprecedented and beyond imagination,” Environment and Public Health Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh said after assessing the situation at the Express Passenger Boat Terminal in the morning.

According to a statement from the Natural Resources and Environment Board, the source of these logs and debris were from the Baleh River and its tributaries above Kapit.

Several days of heavy rain earlier this week in Putai and Nu­­ngun in upper Baleh had caused a massive landslide which brought down the logs and debris into the rivers. The high water level and swift current in Baleh River and its tributaries also washed the logs and debris along their banks.

Passage hindered: An express passenger boat trying to weave its way through the logs in the Rajang river as it leaves Sibu.

Wong said it was a serious natural disaster which had caught both the public and government off guard.

“We haven’t started to calculate the amount of losses and the damage caused,” he said, adding that once the logs and debris had made their way out of Sibu, the authorities would start to check the foundation of the Durin and Lanang bridges.

It was estimated by a sawmill manager that the volume of the logs and debris would be more than 300,000m3.

The situation was worse around noon when the whole area at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan rivers was completely logjammed. Most of the logs and debris flowed down the Rajang while some of them flowed to the Igan.

The map explains the events leading up to the logjam.

The Malay villages which were built on stilts on the right bank of the Igan were fortunate to escape calamity as the logs and debris flowed near the opposite bank.

Meanwhile, Land Development Minister Datuk Seri James Masing blamed unscrupulous timber companies for the disaster. He travelled up the river to Kapit yesterday and was disturbed by what he saw.

“There is still a lot of debris, making travel unsafe. There are also dead fish in the river. It’s an ecological disaster,” Masing, the Baleh assemblyman, told The Star.

He said that this was the third time in three years – the first was in 2008 at Sungai Gat and the second in Sungai Tunoh last year – that such an incident had happened and he feared that it would have far-reaching implications on the state, particularly on the timber industry.

He said the state government had laid down rules for logging but what was happening clearly showed that the rules were not being followed.

“I have gone around the world telling people that we are doing logging correctly. Now this happens. What will people think of us? We must take action against these unscrupulous timber companies.”

He said the authorities concerned must take their job more seriously and enforce the laws stringently.

Source: The Star

URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/10/9/nation/7192940&sec=nation

Log-jammed river disaster unfolding in Sarawak – Now in Sibu !

By HU Editor

(Updated with Video) This is outrageous and disastrous. Will the state government spend astronomical sums of Sarawakians’ money to clear up the mess or just let the rotting logs flow into the South China Sea? Will the culprits be prosecuted?

The Chief Minister, in charge of issuing logging licences for the last 30 years (and indiscriminate destruction of our forests) should be held responsible.

Read more here: http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/log-jammed-river-disaster-unfolding-in-sarawak-now-in-sibu/

Source: Hornbill Unleashed

Taib’s massive headache….. He deserves it!

By HU Editor

( Video Inside )This is outrageous and disastrous. Will the state government spend astronomical sums of Sarawakians’ money to clear up the mess or just let the rotting logs flow into the South China Sea? Will the culprits be prosecuted?

The Chief Minister, in charge of issuing logging licences for the last 30 years (and indiscriminate destruction of our forests), should be held responsible.

Read more here: http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/10352/

Source: Hornbill Unleashed

Malaysia log-jam threatens disaster in Sarawak

8 October 2010 Last updated at 06:21 GMT

Logs and wood debris flowing down a river in Malaysia have blocked river transport and are threatening major flooding downstream.

The town of Kapit on the Rajang River in Sarawak has already been cut off, state media reported.

Heavy rains have forced millions of cut logs at a timber depot into the river.

The combination of a heavy monsoon season with extensive logging, both legal and illegal, is creating a dangerous situation, local media said.

A major environmental disaster was unfolding in Sarawak, which is heavily forested and logged, The Star newspaper reported.

Fear

The newspaper said heavy rains are believed to have caused a flood at a logging camp on the upper reaches of Balleh River - a tributary of the Rajang - prompting the surge of large logs into the river.

The paper quoted a local businessman as saying that the events were unprecedented.

A Sarawak blog, Hornbill Unleashed, carried pictures of the log jam and demanded action from the government for better infrastructure in the state.

"The chief minister who is in charge of issuing logging licences for the last 30 years should be held responsible," says Hornbill Unleashed in its posting.

The river is the only means of transport for communities in the area and residents further downstream are writing blog and twitter entries expressing fear at what might happen when the log train reaches them.

Source: BBC News Asia-Pacific

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11498660

Rajang River Still Innavigable Due to Massive Floating Debris

Friday, 08 October 2010 15:27

Last updated on Friday, 08 October 2010 15:32

SIBU, 8 OCTOBER, 2010: The Sarawak government will conduct a thorough investigation into the alarming situation where long stretches of debris floating on the Rajang River has rendered it innavigable to all boats here today.

"We need to find out the causes, but if there are evidence to indicate that it is due to human factor, stern action will be taken against the perpetrators," said State Minister of Environment and Public Health Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh.

The country's longest river, the Rajang at 563 kilometres long from its source, was innavigable to all boats, big or small, from about noon, here, today.

The river was like a conveyor belt in a sawmill but instead of transporting uniformly cut wood, it carried an endless flow of uprooted trees, discarded logs and all manner of vegetative debris from Kapit, some 176km away.

Kapit experienced an alarming situation from about 2pm yesterday.

Wong who watched the scene from the Kapit Express Boat Terminal, described the situation as a "natural calamity of gigantic proportion".

"I was told in Kapit yesterday that the debris was about 50km long. It is still continuing in Kapit today although happening in smaller portions and length," he told reporters at the scene.

Wong said he had been told that there had been massive landslides in Putai and Nungun, which are logging concession areas in Balleh in the interiors of Kapit Divison due to heavy rain a few days ago.

But he said he was still waiting for detailed reports from the state Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

Wong said the situation had never been seen or experienced here before and was rather scary.

"When the situation improves and there is a navigable path along the river, teams from the Public Works Department and Sarawak Rivers Board will check on the Durin and Lanang bridges to dislodge any debris that might have been trapped at their foundations in the river.

Meanwhile, express boats and other vessels leaving on afternoon trips to Kapit had to delay their trips.

Those who left this morning, had to stop somewhere safe along the route.

-- Bernama

Source: Malaysiandigest.com

URL: http://112.137.167.193/news/36-local/9739-rajang-river-still-innavigable-due-to-massive-floating-debris.html

River disaster hits Sarawak

By PHILIP HII
philiphii@thestar.com

SIBU: A major environmental disaster is unfolding in the state, as kilometre after kilometre of logs and wood debris flow down the Rajang.

It was believed that heavy rain in the upper reaches of Balleh River – a tributary of the Rajang – had caused landslides at log ponds of a major timber camp and brought down the logs and wood debris.

Kapit businessman Tay Hock Joo, who telephoned The Star in Sibu yesterday evening, said nobody in Kapit had ever seen such an occurrence before.

He said the residents first noticed the debris at about 1pm.

Environmental catastrophe: Tonnes of logs and wood debris drifting down the mighty Rajang River near Kapit Thursday, temporarily trapping a ferry and its passengers.

River transport was cut off when logs and debris started filling the entire width of the river by 4pm.

At 7.30pm, the debris was reported to have reached Song and was expected to hit Sibu early in the morning.

Sibu residents are worried by the extent of damage the logs and wood debris would cause to their properties such as jetties and boats.

“We are also worried whether the foundation of the Durin and Lanang bridges are strong enough to withstand the pressure,” said Sibu resident Simon Ting.

Meanwhile, several government officials said the authorities were unprepared for such an incident as it had never happened before and they also did not have the capacity to stop the wood from flowing downstream towards Sibu.

Source: The Star
URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F10%2F8%2Fnation%2F7186693&sec=nation

Stop water impoundment prior to the Emergency Rescue Plan (ERP) for Bakun Dam make available to public

Miri (8 October 2010): Sarawak Conservation Alliance for Natural Environment (SCANE) calls upon the government, if any, the Emergency Rescue Plan (ERP) for Bakun dam be made public prior to action of impounding water for Bakun Dam.

SCANE warns the Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd not proceed with its flooding trial run for Bakun dam until an Emergency Rescue Plan (ERP) has been in place and the public at large have been adequately informed of the procedures laid down by the plan.

SCANE is deeply concerned with the safety and adverse impacts of the dam to the riverine communities living downstream and upstream of the dam. The downstream communities include the people of numerous longhouses along Rajang River who live directly below the dam and the residents of the Belaga township as well as other major towns such as Kapit, Song, Kanowit and Sibu. Within the impounding area, there are more than 100 native families living upstream, that is the Bakun dam’s reservoir and catchment area.

The Bakun dam, Malaysia's largest hydroelectric dam, is located on the Balui River in the upper Rejang River basin, some 37km upstream from Belaga township. Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd – a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated is the owner and developer of the dam.

To this day, the government and the authorities concerns have yet to announce any plan that would take into account the environmental catastrophe consequences of Bakun dam on downstream communities. So far, there has been no preparation on the part of the authorities to design relevant action plans that are able to address the problems that may arise downstream in the immediate future, as a result of the water impoundment of Balui River by the dam.

SCANE is aware of the existence of an Emergency Rescue Plan (ERP), which has been drawn up to prepare the concerned areas for the possible occurrence of dam failure, however this ERP is already too outdated as it has been designed more than ten (10) years ago. Therefore, it is premature action of the government and the dam developer(s) to impound water for the dam if new ERP is non-existent.

In any action of river impoundment that created large man-made lake by large dam like Bakun, it will cause environmental disorder that may lead to an unstable ecosystem which impacts would be disastrous and far reaching to human beings, wildlife and natural environment in the area.

As experience had shown in other parts of the world where similar large dams were built, many communities living along the downstream terrains of large dams have had to face grave dangers and suffer economic losses as a result of the construction of the dams.

In Belaga District, as well as those downstream communities, considering their vulnerable location, which is positioned exactly downstream of the dam, it is only natural that they harbour anxiety about the possibility of the dam suffering from any form of structural or functional failure for such a misfortune would surely result in huge financial losses and pose a threat to their safety and lives.

Meantime, while the ERP is yet to be drawn up, the Government (both State and Federal) should immediately resolve some of the distressing issues pertaining to the to the effects of the Bakun Hydroelectric Dam on the communities living upstream and downstream with regards to outstanding compensation on lands and properties and the resettlement of villages to new sites as well as adverse water pollution and river navigation problems to downstream communities.

Therefore, SCANE strongly calls upon the Government and Sarawak Hidro to immediately stop the plan of impounding Balui River, and demand that:

1. The Government to comprehensively disseminate information on the content of the Emergency Rescue Plan (EPR) of the Bakun Hydroelectric Project to the people residing downstream of the dam.

2. Memorandum of undertaking to be signed and issued to the downstream riverine communities to guarantee that in the event of any incidence of dam failure or damage, the Government or the project developer will be held accountable for the destruction and loss of properties and the suffering inflicted onto the communities.

This means that in the event of such an incidence, the Government or developer will bear the responsibility to pay adequate monetary compensation to the affected residents.

SCANE also urges the Government to carry out comprehensive and meaningful consultation process with the downstream communities with regards to the ERP.

Press Release and Statement Issued By:

Raymond Abin,

The National Coordinator

Sarawak Conservation Alliance for Natural Environment (SCANE)

Tel: +60138449345

Native folk protest against Baram Dam in Borneo

By: STEPHEN THEN

30 Sept 2010

MIRI: Native folk in ulu Baram in northern Sarawak want the proposed Baram Dam to be scrapped as Sarawak was already acquiring the Bakun Dam.

They are alarmed over the move by Sarawak authorities to start clearing land to construct a highway to facilitate the construction of the proposed 1,000 Mws Baram Dam, about 200kms inland from Miri.

They have formed a ''Baram Protection Action Committee'' to lobby for the proposed Baram Dam to be aborted and are appealing to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak and Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to assure Baram folk that the dam construction would not proceed.

They said that since the Sarawak government would be buying the 2,400 MWs Bakun Dam from the Federal Government, there was no reason for any more dams to be built in Sarawak.

They have launched a campaign to gather 20,000 signatures to be submitted with a memorandum of appeal to the two leaders, saying that the Baram Dam had not even gone through the Social Impact Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment stage.

Baram Protection Action Committee chairman Philip Jau came to Miri on Thursday with several community leaders and said that 3,000 Baram folks had already signed the appeal.

Jau, who is from Long Laput, said the Baram folk have seen increased movement of outsiders into ulu Baram in recent months for land clearing works.

''They came into sites near our longhouses and started to clear plots of land belonging to us. When we asked them who they were and where they were from, they said they were from Kuching.

''They said they were hired by the state government to survey the land slotted to be cleared for the building of a highway into Long Keseh where the Baram Dam is to be constructed.

''How can they start this sort of ground work when we people in Baram have not even agreed to the construction of the Baram Dam?

''The EIA and the SIA for the Baram Dam have not even been compiled. We are very worried about what is happening in Baram now,'' he told a press conference.

Jau came to meet Sarawak Natives Customary Rights Land Network chairman Romuald Siew, Sarawak Coalition for Natural Environment chairman Raymond Abin, and lawyer and former Baram MP Harrison Ngau, to seek legal advice.

Siew said that there was no urgency for yet another dam in Sarawak.

''Bakun Dam and Murum Dam will produce 3,300 MWs of electricity. Together with the other existing dams in the state now, there would be a big surplus of power, '' he said.

Siew appealed to the Federal Government to persuade the Sarawak government not to proceed with any more dam constructions.

Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) Youth chief for the Telang Usan state constituency, Dennis Ngau, confirmed that the Sarawak Land and Survey Department had deployed workers into ulu Baram to start ground survey on the Baram Dam.

''The surveys on the road access to the proposed Baram Dam have started, but the actual dam project is still in the planning stage.

''The Baram Dam construction has not begun. It will come much later and the Baram folks will be consulted on whatever is happening.

''PBB wants the Baram Dam to benefit the local natives. We will be holding more dialogues with the people of Baram to alleviate their fears,'' he stressed.

Asked if this meant the construction for the Baram Dam was already approved, he said the state government had already agreed in principle that the Baram Dam would be built, but it had not fixed any date for the actual construction to begin.

Source: The Star

URL: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F9%2F30%2Fnation%2F20100930160423&sec=nation