Malaysian Jungle Story: Dam and Road Projects Threaten Rainforests

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/

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

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.

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