SIBU – A non-governmental organization (NGO) has claimed that contractors are burning and will be burning the forests of the Bakun dam reservoir - the forested area which will be cleared for the dam is 80,000ha that is roughly the size of Singapore Island.

But the Natural Resources Environmental Board (NREB) of Sarawak said the NGO is lying.

“The reservoir size is the size of Singapore but they are not clearing all of them. They will only be clearing at the elevation 180 meter to elevation 228 meter above sea level within 15 kilometer radius of Bakun Dam which is only about 455 hectare,” its controller Dr Penguang Mangil (left) explained.

Yesterday, Raymond Abin, national coordinator of the newly formed Sarawak Conservation Action Network (SCANE) urged NREB to take action against the developer of the Bakun dam project for indiscriminate burning of forests in the reservoir area.

NREB must take action

He stressed that as NREB was empowered to take action on the matter, they should do so.

In a statement emailed to the Malaysian Mirror, Abin said: “SCANE is shocked to learn that forests have been burning within the catchment and reservoir areas of the Bakun HEP dam project without any action being taken against the culprits by the authorities.

“It has been informed that the forest burning was purportedly done as directed by the Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd to wipe out the forests that would be impounded by the dam”.

The Bakun HEP dam project is owned and developed by Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd, a fully-owned unit of the Minister of Finance Inc, Malaysia (MOF Inc).

“SCANE found out that Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd has started with the work to clear the forests within the entire Bakun dam reservoir. The contracts for clear-cutting of forest have been commissioned to some contractors since the beginning of the year. The forest area which will be cleared for the dam is 80,000 ha that is roughly the size of Singapore Island,” Abin said.

He said that recently the Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd managing director Zulkifle Osman announced that the impoundment of water catchments would start in October, which by then the whole dam reservoir would be flooded.

“By July 2010, testing for electricity transmission from Bakun dam will start. The Bakun reservoir catchment comprises some 20 sub-catchments with the main river draining the catchment is the Balui, which in turn is fed by the Murum, Bahau and Linau Rivers.

“SCANE was told that one of the conditions as stipulated in the contract is that the contractors and/or its sub-contractors, agents and/or workers are required to do burning on the cleared and felled forests, without which they would not be fully paid for the work done and/or their contract would be terminated.

“Over the past few months, large tracts of forest have already been cleared and felled within the Bakun dam reservoir area.

“SCANE is wondering as how the NREB, the law enforcer of the Natural Resources and Environment Ordinance (NREO) fails to closely monitor the actions of Sarawak Hidro when its development activities are detrimental to the environment,” he said.

Open burning carried out

He described as scandalous that the Sarawak Hidro did not strictly follow the Environmental Management Plan (EMP), if any, as such stated in the Bakun Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Report.

He said that with the current long spell dry weather, the Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd’s contractors and/or its sub-contractors, agents and/or workers have been doing a series of forest burning.

SCANE has received reports that there were open burning carried out and fires were reported at different locations and sites in the area. In certain sites, where the fires were not being able to completely raze the felled trees, logs and debris, their workers are asked to gather all the logs and reduce to ashes.

SCANE is a coalition of leading environmental and indigenous rights organizations in Sarawak with members include Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia (BRIMAS), Indigenous Peoples Development Centre (IPDC), Network of Customary Land Rights of Sarawak Indigenous Peoples (TAHABAS), Centre for Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Sarawak (CRIPS), Sarawak Indigenous Lawyers Associates (SILA), Serakup Raban Iban Bintulu (SRIBin), Gerempung Anakbiak Sekabai (GAS), Indigenous Peoples Institute Malaysia Sarawak (IPIMAS), Society for Alternative Living (PPU) and Native Longhouse Action Committees throughout Sarawak.

Work of frustrated contractors

In response, NREB claimed that frustrated contractors who are unable to secure the clearing job for Bakun Dam biomass is believed to have spread false information as an act of revenge to demonise the government.

“I have the contract with me here and all the figures put up by the NGO are completely wrong,” Penguang told Sarawak Update in a telephone interview.

He said the NGO was confused between the size of reservoir and the area that have to be cleared for safety reason and eco-tourism potential.

“The reservoir size is the size of Singapore but they are not clearing all of them. They will only be clearing at the elevation 180 meter to elevation 228 meter above sea level within 15 kilometer radius of Bakun Dam which is only about 455 hectare,” Penguang explained.

The areas beyond that would not be cleared at all and the allegation by the NGO is completely wrong.

“I believe there is some motive because many are angry at not getting the contract - there are so many applicants and naturally, not all will be getting the job,” he said.

Penguang explained that they have frozen all burning permits since the beginning of the dry weather and all the existing fires are mainly bush fires in peat areas.

“The peat fires are happening in Miri, Sibu and Mukah. The problem with peat fire is you are not going to see the flame but there will be a lot of white smoke,” he explained.