MIRI: The water behind the Bakun Dam will be impounded tomorrow, but has the government put in place an emergency rescue plan (ERP)? An environmental conservation group does not think so.
The Sarawak Conservation Alliance for Natural Environment is worried that the riverine communities living upstream and downstream of the dam will be in grave danger once the dam is impounded (closing the diversion tunnel gates to allow water levels to rise).
“The government must make public the ERP for Bakun Dam before impounding the water. If there is no such plan, then the government must not proceed with its flooding trial run until an ERP has been in place and the people have been adequately informed of the procedures laid down by the plan,” said the group national coordinator, Raymond Abin.
He was commenting on the decision of the authorities to impound the dam starting tomorrow.
“The downstream communities include the people of the numerous longhouses along the Rajang River who live directly below the dam, and the residents of Belaga 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.
“To this day, the government and the authorities concerned have yet to announce any plan that would take into account the environmental and catastrophic consequences of Bakun Dam on the downstream communities,” Abin said.
Outdated ERP
Abin added that so far, the authorities have not prepared any plan to address the problems that may arise downstream as a result of impounding the Balui River.
“We are aware of the existence of an ERP which has been drawn up to prepare the people for any eventuality in case the dam ran into trouble,” he said.
“However, this ERP is outdated as it has been designed more than 10 years ago. Therefore, it is premature of the government and the dam developers to impound the water for the dam if a new ERP has not been formulated.
“When a river is impounded, it will create a large man-made lake. This will cause an environmental disorder that may lead to an unstable ecosystem. This in turn may have a disastrous and far-reaching impact on human beings, wildlife and the natural environment,” he said.
Abin said experience had shown that when large dams were built in other parts of the world, many communities living downstream have had to face grave dangers and suffer economic losses.
Residents in the Belaga district as well as those downstream are worried that the dam may suffer a structural failure and thus pose a threat to their lives.
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 town. Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd – a wholly- owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated – is the owner and developer of the dam.
It may take up to eight months to fill the dam, which will submerge an area as big as Singapore.
About 150 ecological experts will be present to oversee the flooding of the dam.
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