Malaysian Jungle Story: Dam and Road Projects Threaten Rainforests
11/12/97
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
The recent South East Asian economic downturn has bought time for the
forests of Malaysia and other countries facing rapid forest depletion
in the region. Nonetheless, the mega-projects being put on hold may
yet be actualized. The following article from the Earth Times details
two such potentially environmentally catastrophic projects--the Bakun
Dam and Fraser's Hill road project. The great forests of the World
are being steadily and inexorably diminished by short sighted,
environmentally destructive development schemes. Productive,
ecologically intact land, such as rainforests, is the most valuable
resource a country could possibly hold onto.
g.b.
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Title: Jungle story: When development clashes with tradition
Source: Earth Times News Service
Status: Copyright c 1997 The Earth Times All rights reserved.
Contact source for permission to reprint.
Date: November 9, 1997
Byline: By LEYLA ALYANAK
RASER'S HILL, Malaysia -- Deep in the jungles of Sarawak, on the
island of Borneo, more than 8000 people are preparing to leave their
longhouses, which may one day be flooded by a huge hydroelectric dam.
At Fraser's Hill, across the South China Sea on the mainland, several
thousand Temuan and Semai tribespeople are wondering how much longer
they will be allowed to stay on their ancestral lands.
The government has "indefinitely" delayed plans to build several
highly controversial megaprojects including Bakun Dam in Sarawak and
the highlands road across the top of the Main Range. Both projects
were shelved in a financial belt-tightening move to restore the
economy, rattled by the ringgit's recent tumble. But NGOs are taking
the government at its word and treating the delay as temporary. They
fear once the economy gets back on track, so will the projects.
Opponents of Bakun have been vocal. They say its $5.5 billion price
tag is too high, that it would devastate the environment, and that it
simply isn't needed since Malaysia has a 40-year reserve of natural
gas.
The government's response is that the country will need more
electricity since its economy is projected to grow despite the
setbacks. It says reliance on a single source of power, natural gas,
would be folly and that the dam's additional power would save
Malaysians from dependence on energy imports.
The dam would flood 80,000 hectares of virgin forest around which
traditional life in Sarawak has centered for centuries. Another swath
of trees would be cut to accommodate 640 kilometers of high-voltage
cable carrying power to the coast. A similar length of submarine cable
laid along the seabed would endanger marine life.
In addition to clearing the land of wood, the dam would lessen the
flow of water downstream, disturbing riverbanks and reducing flooding.
Since farmers sometimes rely on seasonal floods for nutrients which
enrich the soil and kill pests, they might boost their use of harmful
fertilizers and insecticides. Dams are also physical barriers for
fish, so people who depend on fisheries for a living would suffer.
Farmers, too would be at risk. More salt in the water would make it
unsuitable for irrigating crops, while saltier soil would eventually
ruin farmland.
Flooding for the dam would submerge the compounds of more than 15
indigenous communities and force them to move to new villages built by
the developers and the government. Overnight, forest dwellers would be
propelled into a cash economy, becoming laborers on plantations,
losing their adat, or customary law, and forfeiting their hereditary
way of life. Low wages from irregular work would drive them into a
cycle of poverty which has become more the rule than the exception
when traditional lifestyles are disrupted.
On the contrary, said the government, the dam would bring social and
economic benefits to the area by providing new housing, education and
health facilities. It also started paying compensation to indigenous
people, with little success. All but one of the 15 community leaders
who received cheques returned them in anger. Some were for amounts as
low as $1.
Food is already becoming scarce for the people of Belaga, near the dam
site. Their fields were idle while they prepared for their journey,
already postponed several times. The move is now set for 1 December,
regardless of the project's delay. According to NGO reports, the delay
won't affect logging either. They said Sarawak's chief minister told
journalists recently that clearing and logging would go ahead "to
avoid landslides." At stake are the vastly profitable but rapidly
dwindling forests of Sarawak.
But the government maintains that doom and gloom from critics is
exaggerated. While the environment would be affected, it said, impacts
would be minimized. It pledged to manage the catchment area
sustainably, and said the generally non-polluting nature of
hydroelectricity would be a contribution to environmental
responsibility.
On the mainland, at Fraser's Hill, doubts about the need for a highway
linking hill resorts across the mountaintops fueled similar resentment
within the environmental community. A proposed 'skyway' would link
Fraser's Hill with its sister resorts at Genting Highlands and Cameron
Highlands across Malaysia's mountain backbone. The road would shave
across the mountaintops, cutting up peninsular Malaysia's main
watershed along the range's 1000 meter contour line, where the
diversity of plant and animal life is richest.
The Main Range contains at least a quarter of the country's different
plants. It also has a rich bird life, with 260 species found in
Fraser's Hill alone. About ten percent of all highland plants and
animals are endemic, or found nowhere else, so any threat to them
would be a challenge to the area's biological diversity.
The road would also displace thousands of indigenous people, known as
orang asli, who would lose their land and possibly their livelihood.
More than 7000 people from 11 settlements live in valley areas near
the proposed road. They rely on cash from non-timber forest products
such as bamboo, rattan, durian and meat. They also farm along the
hills, and that activity would be disrupted by forest clearing, road
works, and soil erosion. The precedent has already been set. When
nearby Cameron Highlands was developed, many of the 6000 indigenous
people living there were driven out to less hospitable areas on the
edge of cliffs as choice land became scarce. NGOs say building the
highland road would simply push people who depend on the forest
further into the jungle.
Another concern is the country's water supply. A number of important
rivers flow from the Main Range, and disturbing them could create
water shortages downstream. The Main Range is by far the main water
catchment area for peninsular Malaysia.
Erosion is a threat because the terrain is steep and rainfall heavy.
The mountain slope has a 27-degree angle which rises in places to 54
degrees. Other developments nearby have already turned to tragedy. In
1996 a mudslide killed 37 people; another 21 died the year before. In
1994, a 96-unit apartment built on a slope collapsed because of a
landslide. By denuding the slopes of trees, hillsides lose the
precious vegetation they need to retain soil and keep it from sliding
down the mountainside. With 3000 mm of rain falling on the highlands
each year, the slopes are waterlogged and ready to slip at a moment's
notice.
As authorities know, roadbuilding in Malaysia can be full of
surprises. The East-West highway which links the country's coasts
across the Main Range is just one example of what can go wrong. In
1991, inspectors found 151 erosion-prone areas along the highway. The
repair cost: $6 million.
In addition to the road itself, there are concerns about paying
activities such as tourism, agriculture, housing or mining. The road
building would be privately funded and developers would obviously look
for ways to make their investment pay off.
As is the case with Bakun Dam, NGOs are concerned about a lack of
transparency in the highland road project process. They complained
that proper procedures for environmental impact assessments were not
followed and that the public was not consulted or even informed. As a
result, no one can really know how badly the projects would affect
land and people. Also as in the case of the dam, they question whether
there is any need for the road at all. There are other ways of
reaching the resorts from the valleys, so why link the resorts to one
another?
As far as conservationists are concerned, both the dam and the
highland road would be "unspeakable environmental catastrophes."
Still, the delays prompted by the economic downturn are giving both
supporters and opponents some breathing space. NGOs hope the
government will use the time to quietly dismiss megaprojects it
doesn't really need and save face by pinning the blame for their
demise on foreign currency speculators, a favorite scapegoat for its
recent financial ills.
That would suit NGOs just fine.