Social activists and human rights NGOs have warned of escalating trouble in Sarawak, where Penan villagers are “being provoked to face-off drunk police personnel” after villages were flooded for the RM4 billion Murum Dam project.
Since Sept 23, when the Penan set up a blockade to the dam site, the police havearrested more than 10 villagers as well as taken a 13-year old boy into custody, said activists.
Since Sept 23, when the Penan set up a blockade to the dam site, the police havearrested more than 10 villagers as well as taken a 13-year old boy into custody, said activists.
Abun Sui Anyit, a lawyer for the Penan, urged the authorities to investigate complaints about “drunken police personnel” at the dam.
“We are concerned about the safety of the Penan if drunken police personnel are allowed to join the operation at the dam especially those fully armed. The locals lodged a police report against the police yesterday,” Abun said in a statement.
“We are concerned about the safety of the Penan if drunken police personnel are allowed to join the operation at the dam especially those fully armed. The locals lodged a police report against the police yesterday,” Abun said in a statement.
The police themselves have mounted a road block to stop the supply of food, water, medicine and social workers and journalists from entering the site of the completed dam, which is awaiting impoundment.
"A humanitarian crisis has become evident," Save Rivers chairperson Peter Kallang (left) told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
"We want the police to be professional and not take sides or be used by the government as a tool to harass the people."
About 1,500 people have been displaced by the dam project. About 200 Penan, including women and children, are taking turns to camp out in the open to press with their demand for fair compensation.
Instead of RM500,000 as reported, the government has offered each family or household RM4,000 for moving out and RM800 a month for the next four years, Kallang said.
The Murum project is part of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy plan, which aims to multiply Borneo's cheap power supply by nearly 20-fold to draw in power-guzzling industries such as aluminum smelters and other factories.
Help from other NGOs
More NGOs in the peninsula are now backing the two-month-old Penan protest.
Suaram adviser Kua Kia Soong said the issue does not involve Sarawak alone.
"
Malaysian taxpayers will be paying for the mounting cost of dams. It is not a Sarawak problem but a national problem," Kua told reporters.
He said the “misuse of funds” to support mega-dam projects would eventually trickle down into higher electricity tariffs for all Malaysians.
Kua cited how the cost of the controversial Bakum Dam, which is still undergoing construction, has escalated three-fold to nearly RM7 billion over the years.
The bulk of the funds, RM5 billion, came from the Employees Provident Fund.
He noted that Transparency International-Malaysia has called Bakun Dam "the monument to corruption" and that the Murum and Baram dams were turning out to be the same.
Solidarity Anak Muda Malaysia and the Damn the Dams action group have visited the Penan at their blockade site, and are speaking out and raising funds to support the community.
"People who go to the blockade have to stop fishing and farming and lose their income but they have to be present to be effective...” said Khim Pa of Damn the Dams.
“We are going to start a fund-raising campaign to support our brothers and sisters in Sarawak.”
Thus far, the authorities and Sarawak Energy Bhd have largely ignored the demands of the Penan.
"A humanitarian crisis has become evident," Save Rivers chairperson Peter Kallang (left) told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. "We want the police to be professional and not take sides or be used by the government as a tool to harass the people."
About 1,500 people have been displaced by the dam project. About 200 Penan, including women and children, are taking turns to camp out in the open to press with their demand for fair compensation.
Instead of RM500,000 as reported, the government has offered each family or household RM4,000 for moving out and RM800 a month for the next four years, Kallang said.
The Murum project is part of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy plan, which aims to multiply Borneo's cheap power supply by nearly 20-fold to draw in power-guzzling industries such as aluminum smelters and other factories.
Help from other NGOs
More NGOs in the peninsula are now backing the two-month-old Penan protest.
Suaram adviser Kua Kia Soong said the issue does not involve Sarawak alone.
"
Malaysian taxpayers will be paying for the mounting cost of dams. It is not a Sarawak problem but a national problem," Kua told reporters.He said the “misuse of funds” to support mega-dam projects would eventually trickle down into higher electricity tariffs for all Malaysians.
Kua cited how the cost of the controversial Bakum Dam, which is still undergoing construction, has escalated three-fold to nearly RM7 billion over the years.
The bulk of the funds, RM5 billion, came from the Employees Provident Fund.
He noted that Transparency International-Malaysia has called Bakun Dam "the monument to corruption" and that the Murum and Baram dams were turning out to be the same.
Solidarity Anak Muda Malaysia and the Damn the Dams action group have visited the Penan at their blockade site, and are speaking out and raising funds to support the community."People who go to the blockade have to stop fishing and farming and lose their income but they have to be present to be effective...” said Khim Pa of Damn the Dams.
“We are going to start a fund-raising campaign to support our brothers and sisters in Sarawak.”
Thus far, the authorities and Sarawak Energy Bhd have largely ignored the demands of the Penan.
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