Sunday, January 16, 2011

Bakun: Empty promises, damned lives

COMMENT Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's visit to the Bakun area on Jan 15 was trumpeted as a gracious offer of largesse to the displaced peoples from the Bakun area who have been resettled at Sungai Asap since 1999.

He promised a RM62 million road linking Belaga and Bakun; a RM46 million clinic, and has “agreed in principle” to write off the remaining housing loans of about RM41 million owed by some 1,500 families who were displaced by the Bakun dam. Can this offset the “ethnocide” of the displaced Bakun indigenous peoples, the “damned lives” at the Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme?

NONEMore than 10,000 indigenous natives from at least 15 different ethnic communities had to give up their ancestral homes and preferred environment at a time when the dam had been suspended during the financial crisis at the end of the 90s. Among these groups of indigenous peoples displaced are the Ukits, who are the only ethnic community of its kind in the world with their distinct language and culture. Theirs is now an endangered culture.

I was amazed to read that Najib was “the first prime minister to set foot in Belaga town”! That means that the prime minister most responsible for this monstrous project, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had never set foot in Belaga despite the long drawn-out saga of this accursed dam during his reign!

Now, even when I was a young lecturer at NUS, I managed to visit Belaga in 1978. And soon after the resettlement of the displaced peoples, I again visited the area with the other members of the fact-finding mission in 1999.

NONEYet no Malaysian prime minister had bothered to see for themselves this part of Malaysia where more than 15 different ethnic communities lived in some of the most beautiful forest environments of Malaysia and where the biggest dam in SEAsia was to be built to displace these indigenous peoples!

The only word that sprang to mind when we observed the state and morale of the displaced people and their shocking “new” living environment was ETHNOCIDE. That was just six months after the resettlement.

“Ethnocide may be defined as the process whereby a culturally distinct people loses its identity due to policies designed to erode its land and resource base, the use of its language, its own social and political institution as well as its traditions, art forms, religious practices and cultural values.

“When such policies are carried out systematically by governments on the pretext of social progress, national unity, economic development, military security, then such governments are guilty of ethnocide…”
(Shanthi Thambiah, 'Cultural Diversity and Indigenous peoples' in Kua Kia Soong edited, 'Mother Tongue Education of Malaysian Ethnic Minorities', DJZHLC, 1998:19)

Having witnessed this process of “ethnocide” at Sungai Asap, I have always said that this displacement of the 10,000 Bakun peoples was the single most dastardly act of the Mahathir administration and the Taib state government. For this, all component parties of the Barisan Nasional must bear full responsibility. Permit me to refresh your memory regarding “Operation Exodus”.

Affected communities not fully consulted

Ever since the project was first proposed, concerned Malaysian NGOs have consistently raised the issue of the lack of clear information and accountability with regard to the Bakun project. Just about every aspect of the project, including the plans for resettlement, was shrouded in secrecy, vague promises and poor consultation with the affected victims and NGOs.

It is clear that the hurry to resettle these indigenous peoples was linked to the fact that the contracts for the Asap Resettlement Scheme had been given out before the onset of the economic crisis. It was also calculated that money could be made from oil palm plantations in the resettlement area.

The displacement of the Balui population was thus part of the plan to convert them into wage labourers for these plantations. The state is in fact subsidising these plantation interests not only in creating this pool of cheap labour but in the budget allocation for the Asap Resettlement Scheme.

NONEThe affected people were promised, by the authorities, adequate plots of land (3 hectares), reasonable housing, jobs and other facilities at the Asap Scheme. Yet, until their final exodus, they had no knowledge of how the Asap Resettlement Scheme had been designed. Nevertheless, they were required to sign a sales & purchase agreement on arrival as a condition for obtaining the keys to their new homes.

As a further pressure for the indigenous people to move to Asap, the authorities closed all support services (schools, clinics, etc) in the original longhouses and all those who stayed behind or moved further upstream were warned that they were trespassing on state land and liable to be forcibly evicted. Those who refused to move to Asap were told that they would lose their right to their compensation payments.

This is hardly the situation within which such a traumatic experience for the indigenous peoples who had lived for generations in their ancestral homes, should have taken place. Instead of receiving all manner of assistance to settle in to the new life, they had to put up with veiled threats and (empty) inducements.

The entire “Operation Exodus” has shown a failure of planning and decision planning. The state of the Asap Resettlement Scheme itself further confirms this fact.

Damned Lives


As a member of the fact-finding team in 1999, I was shocked to witness, first hand, the appalling state of the site, considering it was scarcely a year old. Lack of an adequate sewerage system, lack of rubbish disposal, lack of proper access roads were serious faults, threatening the health and longer-term sustainability of the communities.

The plumbing, made of PVC pipes, can be seen under the houses, and is connected to the septic tank. Leakages in some of these pipes were already noticeable, despite the newness of the scheme. No apparent remedial action had been forthcoming from the authorities. Sewerage waste at some of the longhouses flowed directly into the river near the long houses (we saw this at the Long Geng and Long Ayak resettlement area).

NONEThe longhouses do not have a proper drainage system. There are no concrete drains and there are already sections of stagnant and putrid water in the mud drains which take discharge from the houses. This is unsanitary and poses a health hazard, being mosquito breeding grounds and pose risks to children who may play with the water.

Rubbish collection is another problem faced by the community in the resettlement area. It is non-existent. The access road is too narrow for the rubbish collection lorries. Rubbish disposal is an essential service.

During our stay at the site, we noticed at one longhouse residents were tipping rubbish into the stream, while at another, it was being dumped in a heap not far from the longhouse. They had no alternative. The question is: Who planned this site and how could the design have been passed with such basic flaws?

The situation with regard to the housing provided at Asap is also appalling. Not only is the design and condition of the new houses inadequate, but indigenous people were being forced to pay some RM52,000 for a unit through a contract that has not been explained to them and is written in English legalese.

The price of the house was extraordinary, given its shoddy quality, its location and the paltry amount of compensation paid for the original buildings which were of far greater substance and relevance to the people. Sarawak is supposed to be one of the world's main suppliers of wood. (For comparison, a concrete properly finished low-cost house in peninsular Malaysia costs only RM25,000!)

The longhouses are of standard design. Each longhouse has fifteen units (bilik). They are arranged on two storeys. Downstairs is a hall and a kitchen, with a bathroom and toilet. Upstairs is just one open room, presumably for sleeping. The common balcony is much narrower than a traditional longhouse design, meaning it is difficult to use for traditional communal activities.

Other than the roughly cemented toilet and bathroom floors, and the bathroom and toilet walls which are of asbestos, the houses are made of wood - very poor quality wood at that. The doors and wall panels are of plywood, the floor boards are thin third-grade soft wood with gaps between the planks, while the main pillars are thin belian wood.

The long houses at Asap had been designed without any indigenous peoples' inputs. Instead, a British-based company (Bucknall's) was given the contract! And from our investigations, no certificate of fitness had been issued before the resettlement and this was a serious irregularity in the planning process for the site. The state authorities had in fact acted against the municipal laws of Malaysia.

Residents claimed that they had asked for ten acres each at Sg Asap. They were promised seven but only received three acres. Three acres of land is hardly sufficient to meet their needs. The fertility of the soil is inadequate for much of the land is situated on swampy or hilly areas. The size of the land is also inadequate.

Further, despite prior warnings, the state authorities had failed to provide for the circumstance whereby the indigenous people had to abandon their previous land (and crops) but thus had no time to cultivate the new land. There was thus a dearth of vegetables and fruits available at the site.

Several consequences had emerged from this. Firstly, the pressure on the existing land meant almost immediately that there was a severe shortage of fish, game and jungle products. This, together with the lack of vegetables and fruits, meant that the communities were thrust immediately into a wholly cash economy, spending significant sums on purchasing food and materials which had previously been obtained for free.

High transportation costs also meant that the cost of such purchases was relatively expensive.

To attempt to offset this, some of the indigenous people had begun to cultivate state land, outside of the demarcated land for the resettled communities. Again, there was not enough of this extra land, and this had already led to inter-community conflict. In addition, the cultivation of such land (considered “state land”) was likely to incur the wrath of the authorities, sooner or later, meaning such cultivation would be terminated.

It was not coincidental that while the mission was in Sarawak, the State Assembly actually passed an amendment to the Land Code to outlaw squatting on state land. This would have grave consequences for the indigenous peoples at Sg Asap who had been using state land beyond the three acres they had been given.

The mission found that this was a general practice of most of the people there. The other group of people affected by this amendment would be those who have chosen to move further upriver.

The failure by the planners to properly provide adequate alternative land again reflects an apparent inability to respect and honour what the indigenous people themselves had asked for, to properly respect and honour their culture and traditions, to respect and support sustainable farming and to respect and support provision for future generations.

It further indicates how the indigenous communities have been treated like objects in a process which has provided a hopelessly inadequate alternative life for them, under the guise of 'development'.

azlanThe residents have been displaced from a subsistence/ part-cash economy to a totally cash economy. Almost everything has to be paid for, including their staple rice, vegetables, wild boar, fish, even buah pinang and sireh which they used to get in abundance. There was a general loathing toward having to pay electricity and water rates. As they have no income, they have been living off their compensation money and this is almost finished now.

The cost of living for the households has increased dramatically after they move into the new resettlement area at Sg Asap. Now, the people are burdened with electric and water bills, which they never paid before. In their original home, they were using a diesel generator to generate electricity (the diesel was provided by the logging company at no cost) and the water supply came from the natural streams.

Although the state government had envisaged the displaced people as wage labour for oil palm plantations, in 1999 only one company had moved in. Even so, the seedlings would take at least five years to mature and allow harvesting work to be done.

From interviewing some local people at Asap, the plantation company Samling prefered to pay local people RM8 per hectare but they paid Indonesian labourers RM20 per hectare. Five companies had been given the green light to open up plantations, including the Sarawak Enterprise but only one had started. This again showed dismal planning by the authorities.

New social problems had arisen such as breakdown of family relations, distrust within communities; lack of social and recreational outlets for the youth; conflict between different communities, and disempowerment of women. We saw widespread despondency among the residents at Sg Asap; alcoholism had taken root and there was no motivation to produce their traditional handicraft beyond the plain floor mats…the symptoms of ethnocide.

Who benefits from the Bakun Dam?

The whole displacement process raises the fundamental questions of who defines and who benefits from development. The fact is that the indigenous population affected by the Bakun HEP have been asked to sacrifice their entire natural and cultural heritage in the name of development. Indeed, government spokespeople and others have lambasted critics as being anti-development and traitors.

Yet on closer examination of the way this whole project has been planned and implemented, it is clear that the indigenous people feel utterly betrayed and degraded by this so-called “development”.

They have been made to change a lifestyle which they controlled and from which they could plan their future, to one where everything has been planned for them and which has robbed them of their dignity, autonomy and ability to sustain their livelihood through integration with their traditional land and its resources.

It must be pointed out that the indigenous peoples of Bakun are by no means “backward” and living primitive lifestyles. Far from it. Most communities have been participating in part cash economy for a long time now. Their original long houses have produced quite a few university graduates and professionals. The member of Parliament for the area in 1999 was himself a former headmaster who had grown up at Bakun.

What they could have done with to improve their quality of life at their original long houses were better services: transportation, education facilities, clinics and hospitals, marketing and credit, etc. They could do with some sustainable means of power for each of their long house communities.

In other words, development must be based on the needs of the community and not the socially destructive projects such as the Bakun dam. Now their forest has been destroyed, their rivers have been depleted of fish and drinkable water and even the only means of transport since the days of their ancestors - the upstream tributaries of the Rajang – has been terminated by the accursed Bakun Dam.


KUA KIA SOONG, a former MP, was principal of the New Era College, Kajang. He is also a director of human rights group Suaram.

Source: Malaysiakini

Najib ‘saves’ Taib with new goodies

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak goes wooing voters in Sarawak with the announcement of a slew of rural projects.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17 January 2011

SUNGAI ASAP: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s weekend visit to Sarawak may have saved Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s political hide, which has come under “tremendous pressure” since the Sibu by-election in May 2010.

Literally taking the bull by the horn, Najib led off his government transformation programme by resolving a gnawing pain in Sarawak’s neck – the Bakun Dam resettlement issue.

On Saturday, more than 1,500 families at the Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme heaved a huge sigh relief at the federal government’s decision to write off their remaining RM41 million housing loan.

The move will ease the burden of some 10,000 people who were affected by the resettlement programme following the construction of the Bakun Hydro Dam in 1996.

The settlers have long since been battling with the state government over earlier promises made to the settlers with regard to housing, and inadequate land allotment and utilities.

Sarawak, which is heading for its 10th state election, is very much dependent on its rural vote-bank. But an empowered opposition armed with a seemingly endless list of Taib’s corrupt adminstration and personal abuse is threatening to derail rural support for Barisan Nasional.

Last week in a much hyped series of meet-the-MPs, Najib had a session with three Sarawak MPs. What transpired is really anyone guess.

But over the weekend, Najib announced a slew of rural development projects starting with the discontentment of the Sungai Asap community.

Said Najib: “In principle, we agree to cancel the housing loan.

“The details and mechanism of how it will be done will be discussed with Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd, the developer of Bakun Dam.

“We are doing this because we understand your plight and hardship.

“We are connecting electricity supply to Sungai Asap. We will be spending RM22 million to connect Sungai Asap to the main grid,” he told the delighted group of people at Rumah Belor, Sungai Asap.

Consolidating BN’s vote bank

Najib also addressed the community’s unhappiness over the size of land allocated to each family as part of the resettlement package pledged by the Taib administration.

The state governemnt had allocated only three acres per family which the resettlers said was insufficient to generate an income.

“We will find the best ways to allocate more land to each family to ensure the people have a better income,” he said.

Earlier in Belaga, he announced an allocation of RM62 million for the much-awaited 35km road project from Belaga town to Bakun Dam.

“The army will build it under the ‘Jiwa Murni’ programme to reduce the cost… if the Public Works Department were to build the road, it will cost RM350 million,” he said, adding that the government was aware of how vital the road was for the community.

The Belaga district communities were dependent on the Rajang River but the impoundment of the Bakin Dam had left certain stretches shallow.

“Construction of the road will begin next month. The federal government will allocate RM62 million for the project,” he said, adding that since November last year moves to bring treated water supply to Kapit town and the neighbouring communities were already underway.

The RM35 million water supply project is expected to be ready by October 2012.

Najib also said the Belaga district with its 28,000 population would see more infrastructure development to the tune of RM100 million .

Among them is a prefabricated steel bridge across the Linau River in Lusong Laku and a kindergarden for the local Penan community.

Najib said that the governemnt would also build nine resthouses for Penan pupils at Sungai Urun.

“Our desire is to see that no single race – no matter how small or isolated – will be left behind by the present government,” he said.

Source: Free Malaysia Today

URL: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/01/17/najib-saves-taib-with-new-goodies/

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Najib may dish out goodies to Bakun folk

13 January 2011

Regina Lee

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is scheduled to visit Sarawak again this weekend, amidst wide speculation that he will be dishing out compensation to villagers displaced by the RM7.3 billion Bakun Dam.

According to the natives who once lived in the dam area, the premier is expected to visit their village in Sungai Asap, where he is likely to hand over some form of the long-delayed compensation.

Residents of some 15 longhouses were moved out of the area to Sungai Asap – roughly 30km away – in 1998 to make way for the hydroelectric dam project.

While some of the residents have been given compensation, it is estimated that a lot more have not received theirs.

Miku Loyang, a Bakun native of the Kayan descent, told Malaysiakinithat up to RM7 million in compensation still had to be given out to the villagers to cover the cost of their land, crops, plantations and living quarters.

At the same time, he believes that Najib would also be giving out some form of goodies during his trip there in light of the forthcoming state election.

The full-term of the Sarawak assembly expires in July, which means that Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud will have to call for an election before then.

The Belaga state seat, under which Bakun falls, saw the BN candidate, Liwan Lagang, win by only a slim 227-vote majority in the 2006 state election, making it a “dangerous” seat for the coalition.

Najib to also attend Taib’s wedding party?

Najib is expected to meet the villagers affected by the Bakun Dam in Kapit, early on Saturday morning in Belaga, before making his way to Sungai Asap in the afternoon.

Although it is not stated in his official itinerary sent to media organisations by the Sarawak Information Department, it is understood that Najib will head back to Kuching for Taib’s wedding banquet on Saturday night.

Sunday morning will see Najib open the SUPP convention before heading for Samarahan to attend another programme.

Taib, 74, recently confirmed that a state banquet would be held to celebrate his recent marriage to a 28-year-old Syrian national, Ragad Waleed Alkurdi, said to be a former flight attendant.

It is understood that apart from Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor, more than 1,000 VVIPs and dignitaries are expect the attend the function at the Dewan Santapan in the new state legislative complex. – Malaysiakini

Electricity for Bakun resettlers ‘only’ if state provides lines

19 December 2010

FMT Staff

KUCHING: Residents in the 15 longhouses in the Sungai Assap resettlement scheme will ‘only’ receive power from the Bakun project if the authorities provide the transmission lines.

“We will supply power from Bakun to the Belaga township and longhouses in Sungai Assap if there are plans by the relevant authorities to provide transmission lines, ” said the Bakun project management office.

The Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme is home to more than 10,000 natives who were forced out following the state’s move to develop the RM7 billion Bakun Dam project in 1996.

At that time, the government had promised them a range of facilities. But much of what was promised is yet to be delivered. Many of the natives are also still awaiting their compensation of RM 20,000 and RM 50,000 from the government.

Speaking to newsmen after visiting the Bakun project recently, political secretary to the Prime Minister, Shahlan Ismail, said it was imperative that authorities engage the local community and resolve problems accordingly.

“The PM is very serious about the welfare of the people and wants their problems to be resolved quickly. The relevant authorities must engage and communicate regularly with the public on steps to be taken on the ground,” said Shahlan.

Shahlan was among several top officials from the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) in the PM and Deputy PM’s offices who had visited the settlement and Bakun project recently. The delegation also visited the Long Singu Penan settlement, Lusong Laku primary school and SMK Belaga.

On schedule

Sarawak Hidro managing director, Zulkifle Osman, who briefed the group said the impoundment of the 205-metre dam had begun in Oct 13.

“The threshold level is 195 metres, where dammed water will enter the inlet and turn the turbines to kick-start power generation.

“At the current rate, the impoundment of Bakun hydroelectric dam is ahead of schedule. As of Monday the water in the reservoir has reached 150.4 metres. It could reach the critical mass of 195 metres for power generation as early as April next year,” he said.

Zulkiflie also allayed commonly-held fears that the impoundment would further reduce the water levels in the voluminous Rajang river as had allegedly happened in October/November.

The dry spell coupled with the impoundment of the Bakun Dam had cut off river communications with communities in the upper reaches of Nanga Merit, Belaga, Song and Kapit, resulting in severe shortage of food supplies and hardship to locals in the vicinity.

Zulkifli said: “We don’t expect any untoward incidences. The water level between Belaga and Kapit town should be passable to normal riverine traffic, including express boats, by next July.

“But this could even happen earlier…as early as April if the present rate of impoundment continues.”

The Bakun Dam, which is the second highest concrete-rock filled dam in the world, is managed by Sarawak Hidro, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated.

Source: Free Malaysia Today

Bakun dam is 'white elephant' project


Monday, September 13, 2010

THE multi-billion-dollar Bakun dam in Borneo, already condemned as an environmental catastrophe affecting tribal people, is now battling criticism of it becoming a giant white elephant.

The dam, which will eventually submerge an area the size of Singapore, is nearing completion after suffering a series of setbacks and delays since its approval in 1993.

But at the last hurdle, the project has stumbled again. The project is seeing delays in winning the state government's permission to begin the flooding process and no deal is placed yet on purchasing its hefty 2,400 megawatt output.

Ambitious plans for an undersea cable to feed the Bakun's electricity to the Malaysian peninsula have been now abandoned.

This leaves the Sarawak state government as the only feasible buyer — and equipped with a very strong hand.

Negotiations with the dam developer Sarawak Hidro, a subsidiary of the national finance ministry, have reportedly been tough.

"It's a case where the owner of the project is naming an asking price that is very different to what the buyer would want," said Wong Chew Hann, an analyst at Malaysia's top bank Maybank.

"I understand there's quite a huge mismatch," she said. "I'm not sure what they've incorporated into the pricing, but the cost of the project has gone up so much since it was started."

As well as the cost of construction, there is the expense of compensating tribal people for their forced relocation from ancestral lands, and suppliers affected by the long delays.

"So the question is, are you going to incorporate all the compensation costs in the tariff price?" said Wong.

With the indigenous people from the Bakun catchment area long since resettled and its valuable timber resources felled for an equally long time, the dam has been ready to be flooded since April.

The state government had delayed permission, saying it was still evaluating river levels and the impact on boat transport.

A Sarawak minister reportedly said last week that the necessary permit has been granted, denying both that it had been used as a bargaining chip to lower the tariff and that Sarawak was facing an energy glut.

Sarawak Hidro managing director Zulkiflie Osman played down suggestions that he has been held to ransom by the state government.

"Both parties are working together and want it to be settled amicably, with a tariff acceptable to both parties," he told AFP, adding that he expected to strike a tariff deal before December.

The next of Sarawak's mega-dams, the Murum, which is being developed by the state government, is due to come online in 2013 but Osman said he was convinced the state authorities will not bypass the Bakun in favour of its own project.

Alongside the power purchase negotiations, the federal government is also said to be discussing selling the entire Bakun facility — built at a reported cost of 7.3 billion ringgit (2.4 billion dollars) — to the state government, but pricing and finance problems have emerged.

The Star daily reported in July that the federal government was seeking 8.0 billion ringgit while the state government offer was just 6.0 billion ringgit.

The Bakun's output far exceeds existing energy needs in Sarawak, a relatively undeveloped Malaysian state.

Sarawak is mostly destined for industrial users such as aluminium smelters, but these are still on the drawing board.

"The main problem is that currently there is no demand for such a big capacity yet, and in order for Sarawak Energy to purchase the dam they would need adequate funding," said an analyst with a major research house.

"The banks would ask for some kind of feasibility study, and as there is no real demand yet this project risks becoming a white elephant," said the analyst, who declined to be named.

Newspaper reports have questioned how the federal government can ever hope to recover the huge amount of money it has sunk into the project.

"Marred by too many disagreements, the 7.3 billion ringgit project could very well turn out to be a non-starter," the Star said last month, adding that with both the Bakun and Murum dams online there would be a "very real possibility" of a power glut.

Transparency International has labelled Bakun a "monument of corruption" in Sarawak, which has been ruled for three decades by the formidable chief minister Taib Mahmud.

There has also been fierce criticism over the botched relocation of 15,000 indigenous people, who have made an unhappy transition to life in drab resettlement areas.

Baru Bian, chairman of the opposition party Keadilan in Sarawak, said the Bakun project was designed purely to profit cronies, and not planned in the public interest.

"The dam is a waste of public funds, it's not necessary, and what is paramount is that it is disturbing and disrupting the lives of the natives and the environment — the trees and the forests."

AFP

Source: The Brunei Times
URL: http://www.bt.com.bn/science-technology/2010/09/13/bakun-dam-white-elephant-project