The Bakun Dam project and its consequence to the Indingenous People and the ecosystem of Sarawak, Malaysia

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!"er"iew
The Bakun Dam is located in Sarawak, Malaysia 37 km north of the Bulai river (Lee) The dam !ein" constructed will !e #$% meters hi"h, 7&$ meters lon", %'$ meteres wide and will have a #&$$ Me"a(att ca)acity which could )otentially )ower a lar"e )ortion of Sarawak state (Lee) *owever, the construction of the Bakun Dam will )otentially destroy '+,'&$ hectares of rich ecosystems !y su!mer"in" them This is relatively the same si,e as Sin"a)ore (Lee)

The construction of Bakun and its effects to the indingenous people

-round .% communites would !e effected as a result of the construction of the dam (Lee) -))ro/imately +,%$$ indi"enous )eo)le will !e effected (0hoy, #$$&) The indi"enous )eo)le effected will include1 2enyah, 2ayan, 0a3an", 4kit and the 5enan (0hoy, #$$&) The indi"enous )eo)le around the area of Bulai river close to the Bakun dam are mainly su!sistance famers that )ractice shift cultiviation (0hoy, #$$&) Their main source of meat is fishin" and huntin" (Lee) They o!tain most of their resources from the 3un"les (0hoy, #$$&) Losin" this land would not only mean losin" their food su))lies and critical resources, !ut also their ancient !urial "rounds (Lee)

The ecosystem and forests of Sarawak

The 6sland of Borneo is rich in )rimary tro)ical rainforests 6ncludin" the areas of closer to the rivers and seas are the lar"e man"rove forests that strech from Malaysia7s )art of the Borneo island to 6ndonesia (Borneo 5ro3ect) The area )ro)osed for the construction of the dam would 3e)oradi,e many native s)ecies that reside in the area There are a!out .$$ s)ecies of flora and fauna that are native to the area Some of the famous fla"shi) se)cies that reside within this area are the 8reat Leaf Monkey, the Borneo 8i!!on, and the Malayan Sun!ear (Borneo 5ro3ect) Much of the tim!er and other valual!e resources from the forests come from this area of Sarawak (The Third (orld 9etwork) The indingenous people and their struggles 6t isn7t uncommon for the indin"enous )eo)le in the Sarawak area to !e e/)osed to e/)loitation and enviromental in3ustice :or e/am)le, !esides the trou!les with the Bukan Dam )ro3ect, the 5enan tri!esmen have !een fendin" off lar"e lo""in" com)anies that have threatened to e/)loit and own most of their homelands (0hoy, #$$&)

The Bukan Dam )ro3ect covers a!out %. )ercent of the land area that is owned !y the natives *owever, ownin" the land does not necessarily mean that they are not lia!le to re)osseion and utility of land if the central "overnment of Malaysia decides to do so (Lee) The dis)lacement of )eo)le from their homes would also mean a loss to their way of lfie and many other im)ortant resources that sustains the indin"eous )eo)le7s way of life (Lee)

The proposal of Bakun Dam o"er the years

The state of Sarawak is rich in natural resources Lar"e )roducts of )alm oil, natural "as, ru!!er, and tim!er are its main sources of e/)ort Many of these resources have !een utili,ed and economically, Sarawak u) till today is lookin" to e/)and economically (Lee) The Bukan Dam was )ro)osed in .+;$s, !ut was re3ected in .++$ due to enviromental im)acts that it would cause to the area *owever, later in the +$s, the !oomin" economy encoura"ed many )oliticians to take u) the )ro3ect The Bukan Dam if constructed would have created a revenue .. ' !illion in anual income (Lee) <conomic strate"ist also )resumed that the resivour area would attract forie"n investment !y creatin" aluminum, )ul), )a)er and other industries (Lee) The economic )lan also 3ustified that it would !rin" indi"enous )eo)le of the area to !e inte"rated into the economy The initial )lans also hi"hli"hted em)loyment and other o))urtunities that mi"ht !e en3oyed !y the indin"enous )eo)le of the area (0hoy, #$$&) *owever, the economic downfall of .++7 halted the )ro3ect from !ein" carried out (Lee) (hen the )ro3ect was )ro)osed to !e resumed later on, many o!3ections were raised !y different 98=s and

indin"enous "rou)s The o!3ections were stated as1 . The current ener"y consum)tion of the whole Sarawak state is only %$$ M( 7$$ M( of electricity is already !ein" "enerated from )resent sources and there is room for e/)ansion to a!out .$$$ M( -t the same time, the )rediction for ener"y usa"e in Sarawak is e/)ected to dro) from + ; )ercent in #$$$ to 3ust % ' )ercent in #$.$ (2ua #$$$) Thus, it makes the ener"y "enerated !y Bakun Dam unnecessary (Lee) # 0ritics also commented that Bakun7s electricity is neither the chea)est nor the cleanest The cost of Bakun7s electricity will actually !e the most e/)ensive ever and when electricity )rices increase, the Malaysian consumers will have to !ear the costs (Lee) 3 :urthermore, the dam is sited in a remote )art of Sarawak, which means that it has to rely on the transmission of electricity throu"h overland and undersea ca!les that may not !e the safest o)tions -lso, the environmental im)acts of these ca!les are still unforeseen (Lee) & Lastly, the indi"enous )eo)le have !een consulted on a limited level concernin" the )lannin" of the dam There is no )u!lic access to the im)ortant feasi!ility studies and no feed!ack is collected from the )u!lic on the <nvironmental 6m)act -ssessment )rocess (Lee) (The following numerical points are direct quotes from Hui L. Lee's "Enviromental Justice Case tud!""