Suhakam holds engagement session on Nenggiri dam project

 

Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) is always open to holding discussions and engagements with stakeholders in all its development projects.

According to a statement by the electricity utility company today, an engagement session was organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) recently on the Nenggiri hydroelectric dam project in Gua Musang, Kelantan, to resolve any worries on the effects of its implementation to surrounding communities.

TNB Power Generation Sdn Bhd managing director Nor Azman Mufti said the company is committed to ensuring the Orang Asli communities who will be affected by the development will be compensated and given assistance accordingly until the project is completed.

According to the statement, Suhakam was satisfied with TNB’s detailed explanation during the three-hour session on April 7 in Kuala Lipis, Pahang.

Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph, who chaired the engagement session, said the Orang Asli communities who are affected and involved by the project were given the chance to raise enquiries and doubts on the project.

“We stressed the importance of sharing information with openness, besides looking for more friendly ways to balance all the demands from various stakeholders in Malaysia,” he said in the statement.

The engagement session is aimed at giving information on the project’s current status and its benefits to the people of Kelantan and Orang Asli communities in three villages (Pos Tohoi, Pos Pulat and Kampung Kuala Wias) who are directly affected by the project.

It was attended by four Suhakam members, six Orang Asli community leaders, 11 from the Kelantan’s Orang Asli Villages Network group, officers from Kelantan State Secretary Office, Gua Musang District Office, Department of Orang Asli Development and TNB.

Meanwhile, Pos Tohoi Orang Asli village Development and Security Committee chairperson Ajeh Baharom hopes that the implementation of the hydroelectric project will be expedited as residents at the three villages involved have been waiting for eight years for it to be developed.

- Bernama