I have just come across an article in the Singapore Business Times
dated 1/2/94 (page 15).
This talks of Ekran (the Malaysian company now responsible for the
Bakun Dam project in Sarawak) and how it got the project and also
the fact that it has
CLEAR CUTTING RIGHTS to 80,000 HECTARES
in the Upper Rejang area of Sarawak prior to building the dam and
flooding the area. Armed with tax concessions and also liberal
export quotas for the sale of the logs (quote article), Ekran
anticipates to make some M$2.4 billion from forest clearing before
the lake is filled.
Much of the forest area has been cut at least once by companies
including Rimbunan Hijau. Much of the forest area is claimed by
indigenous communities as Native Customary Land. Indigenous people
in Long Geng, for instance, have been jailed for their part in
demonstrating and blockading logging roads in a desperate attempt
to protect their land.
There has been no indication from the Sarawak state government as
to plans to resettle the 4,000 plus indigenous people affected by
the project. Taib has talked of the need to bring rural people
into the mainstream of development (usual chatter) and of moving
people into plantation estates. We can anticipate this is what
will happen to the Bakun dam evicted indigenous people. As someone
once said, for resettlement, read unsettlement and expulsion.
There has been no indication as to what levels of compensation
will be paid to the indigenous peoples, and certainly no
indication of whether Ekran will compensate them for clear cutting
their land. (We can anticipate of course that this will certainly
not happen).
What we do know is that special branch are active in the area
monitoring any possible dissent (the campaign in the 1980s amongst
the local communities was extremely well organised and powerful)
and that information re the damn project is impossible to get hold
of. Official documents are likely to be covered by the Official
Secrets Act, which carries a MANDATORY jail sentence of at least
one year for anyone even so much as getting a sniff of such
information.
The article in the Singapore Business Times did say however that
there is some concern amongst financial advisers or investors
about where Ekran will get the money for the project (billions of
dollars in anyoneUs currency). Apparently they will have to borrow
between 60-70% of the cost. The article did go on to suggest that
people may be wary of such an investment, particularly if Bakun is
subject to the same sort of campaign as happened in the 1980s.
We are away for the next month but watch this space for further
news and get ready to get off your asses.