Locals oppose Abang Jo's 'anti-crocodile' Tutoh dam proposal

 

Local communities are mobilising against the proposed Tutoh/Apoh dam near Baram, that Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg said could help chase crocodiles away.

Having collected at least 500 signatures in a petition against the plans, the community leaders said locals have been kept in the dark.

“We are not against development. But we are very concerned when development projects are brought up in a manner where we, as the affected communities, are never first approached and informed about it.

“So, to suddenly read about it in the papers, we become very concerned,” said Ding Laing of Long Panai, one of the villages along the Tutoh river, in a statement today.

The Long Panai community has also written to the premier last November seeking more information but has not received a reply.

The group aims to submit the petition to the premier and relevant agencies at the end of this month.

In the past months, Abang Johari has on several public events spoken about how a cascading dam on the Tutoh river could rejuvenate the river and scare away crocodiles, thereby benefiting the locals.

He also claimed that the local community had asked for the dam.

 “The reason is to maintain the relationship between humans and crocodiles, but this initiative will also generate income for Sarawak. This is innovation and a new idea,” he said at an event last October.

He repeated these sentiments in November.

However, Miri-based NGO Save Rivers said there is no evidence that there has been a rise in crocodile-human conflict in the area.

Access to feasibility study

In a statement today, Save Rivers managing director Celine Lim said the suggestion that the dam is acceptable because locals no longer use the river is particularly “alarming”.

“The suggestion that communities no longer use the rivers is particularly alarming and demonstrates that policy makers are out of step with reality.

“While it is vital to transition to renewable energy, this energy transition must be just and that includes upholding the free prior and informed consent rights of the Indigenous People.

“In our letter to the premier’s office last year, we requested access to feasibility studies of these proposed cascading dam sites and research that highlights the connection of dam constructions as an effective crocodile population control. We also have not received any response,” she added.

Sarawak is gunning to be the leading supplier of renewable energy in the region and is currently supplying electricity to Sabah and parts of Kalimantan in Indonesia.

There are also plans for Sarawak to sell electricity to Singapore, but the discussions are still in the early stages and would require laying underwater cables between Borneo and Singapore.

However, environmental groups say large hydroelectric dams are environmentally damaging, and electricity generated through them does not count as renewable energy in many jurisdictions of the world. - Mkini